Let's Live it Up
by GlossyFresh
Summary: Tori Black's diary is discovered fifty years later by her granddaughter who becomes obsessed with reading the story. But who can blame her, it's one hell of a story filled with the tales of her grandmother's affair with the new Care of the Magical Creatures teacher Professor Scamander, as well as the most popular boy in her Hogwarts year, Tom Riddle.
1. Chapter 1

**TRIGGER WARNING: Dark themes, Inappropriate age gaps, abuse/manipulation/mind control and just unethical and immoral actions in general. You have been warned.**

 **This story is M for a reason, and it's not for sexual content. Slightly AU as the canon characters will be slightly out of character and do things that the real characters would never do.**

 **That being said, the main character is over 18 (which is possible if her birthday was over summer before seventh year).**

 **This story is also loosely linked to my existing Harry Potter universe fanfiction - "There ain't no Moonlight, After Midnight". You can read it for a backstory if you're into Fred Weasley stories but it's not really required - this story is written under the assumption you have not read that story and know nothing about that character. Vicki is the main character's grand daughter (Tori) who has stumbled across her diary fifty years later, so aside from appearing in this chapter she's not central to the plot at all. If you do read that story be aware this chapter will have spoilers, as this is a bit further ahead than what I've written. Also the events of this story will not be referenced in that story at all.**

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 _How can you see looking through those tears?_  
 _Don't you know you're worth your weight in gold?_  
 _I can't believe that you're alone in here_  
 _Let me warm your hands against the cold_

 _A close encounter with a hardhearted man_  
 _Who never gave half of what he got_  
 _Has made you wish that you'd never been born_  
 _That's a shame 'cause you got the lot_

 _Hey yeah, you with the sad face_  
 _Come up to my place and live it up_  
 _You beside the dance floor_  
 _What do you cry for? Let's live it up_

Victoria "Vicki" Hartwell was an almost-regular witch. Recently turned seventeen at the end of the previous school year she was now of age and would soon enter her final year at Hogwarts. She was a proud member of the Ravenclaw house and had recently received a letter from Dumbledore acknowledging that she was chosen to be Head Girl for the upcoming school year.

The previous school year had been very eventful. She started the year with Roger Davies, the handsome Ravenclaw Quiddich captain as her boyfriend. There were many ups and downs and with the Triwizard tournament thrown into the mix their relationship was set for disaster. Roger accepted Fleur Delacour's invitation to the Yule Ball which meant that Vicki and Roger broke up. Luckily for her she had grown very close to Fred Weasley over the year and they confessed feelings for each other and were going very strong. They were young and completely in love, living the dream.

Of course the end of the previous school year was when Cedric Diggory had been killed during the last task of the tournament. Harry Potter, the boy who lived and Albus Dumbledore the headmaster were exclaiming that He Who Must Not Be Named had made a reappearance and was the one behind Cedric's tragic death. Everybody else who had influence seemed to think otherwise, with the Daily Prophet running stories on a daily basis stating how wrong Dumbledore and Potter were.

To Vicki it didn't matter. Cedric was a very good friend to her and all that mattered was that he had passed away. It had been very hard for her at the start of the summer but luckily for her, her boyfriend cared about her very much and had managed to cheer her up. She was very grateful to have him.

Vicki had spent a good chunk of her summer helping Molly Weasley and her children clean up 12 Grimmauld Place to be used as an appropriate safe house for the new Order of the Phoenix. Now that she and the twins were of legal age to use magic out of the school they were able to do things the younger children were not able to do. They had been denied clearance to join the Order until they finished their studies, so cleaning and clearing were the only things they could do to help.

It was on one of the days Vicki was lending a hand at the house that Dumbledore had come to see her. It wasn't irregular for her to see Dumbledore at the house, he had popped in a few times over the summer. Dumbledore had always greeted her in passing, but this time he had come outside where the kids were mending outside panels of the house's structure. Fred, George and Vicki were using magic for the higher panels. Vicki was using the levitating charm to put the wooden panels in place and to hold them steady whilst the twins were using magic to hammer the nails in. Towards the bottom the younger kids were hammering by hand, as no magic was required. Levitating charms were fairly simple but being able to hold the planks steady was the tricky part. The two twins had tried but failed to hold the panel steady, but it was a simple task for Vicki.

The kids had trouble focusing as their headmaster was watching from behind them and they remained aware of his presence.. He stayed silent, peering at them through his half-moon spectacles. After a few minutes, he finally spoke up.

"I was wondering if you would be so kind as to lend me Miss Hartwell for a while?" Dumbledore spoke up, addressing the group as a whole.

Vicki was taken aback. It seems the others were too as they seemed confused. Vicki whipped her head to look at Harry, the one she expected Dumbledore to be here to see. Figuring it was something to do with her new role as Head Girl she went to go join Dumbledore.

"You might want to bring your belongings. Our outing might not be too long, but you'll want to free the rest of your day afterwards." Dumbledore stated kindly to Vicki.

She furrowed her eyebrows but didn't speak up. She went to her boyfriend and gave him a quick peck (usually they both loved a good snog goodbye to make those around them feel uncomfortable, but both were too shy in Dumbledore's presence) as she followed Dumbledore into the residence with her bag over her shoulder.

"I noticed you passed your apparition test. Whilst I have full confidence you are very competent at apparition, I hope you don't mind that I request I apparate us both." Dumbledore stated to her.

"Please go ahead. I don't even know where the hell we're going." Vicki giggled, as she accepted his arm.

Moments later she found herself in a very bustling street with lots of magic kind surrounding her. She had been here many times before, this was Diagon Alley. Vicki purposely moved herself to the side of the Alley to make room for those who wanted to get past as she wanted to stop and confront Dumbledore on what was happening.

"Okay. Ten minutes ago I was fixing wooden planks on a house with my boyfriend and friends. Now I'm in Diagon Alley with the headmaster of Hogwarts. Why?" Vicki asked him with a little bit of attitude, crossing her arms in defence.

"I know you were very keen to join the Order after Cedric's death. I've found a task you can help with before you finish up your studies." Dumbledore smiled at her.

Vicki's eyes widened. She had expressed a keen desire to help avenge Cedric's death but the current Order members had disallowed her and the twins to participate until they finished up at Hogwarts. If this were a task she could do for the Order right now, she was on board.

"Okay. What do I need to do?" Vicki keenly asked.

"We're going to Flourish and Blotts. You need to get this signed." Dumbledore kindly said to Vicki as he handed her a book.

Vicki read the title. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._ She was now confused for a number of reasons even though Dumbledore had revealed the plan to her. Why did she need to get a book signed? Why this book? Where was Dumbledore keeping the book, as he didn't have it a few moments ago but now he had passed her a very heavy book that had to be kept somewhere?

"Oh I um...I already have a copy of this book. If you're wanting me to get this signed by Newt Scamander you might find someone else who will be more useful anyway. Care of the Magical Creatures was never one of my strongest subjects, I dropped it after O.W.L.S, alongside Herbology." Vicki sadly stated. She did badly want to help out, but if she wasn't qualified for the job it was best to stand aside and allow someone else to help this time. She knew she had plenty of skills to offer the Order instead when the time was right.

"I am aware you would have attained a copy of the book in your first year, but we clearly need you to have a copy right now," Dumbledore jovially stated "everyone has their strengths and weaknesses Miss Hartwell. You're very gifted at Transfiguration and Charms. It may interest you to know that your grandmother, your namesake, she was very talented in Care of the Magic Creatures and Herbology but found herself struggling with Transfiguration and Charms."

Vicki nodded her head in approval. She knew very little about her paternal grandparents, as they passed away before she was born. Andrew and Victoria Hartwell. Andrew, like Vicki's father Max, was sorted into Gryffindor. Victoria, her grandmother she was named after, was a Slytherin. It was nice to hear Dumbledore speak about her grandmother fondly. It didn't happen often but every now and again she found herself wondering about her heritage and what her grandparents were like as people.

"Well, if you're sure I'm the right person, let's do this. Not only do I trust you, you're like, the wisest and most powerful wizard alive. You clearly know what you're doing." Vicki stated as she began to walk in the direction of Flourish and Blotts.

"You're too kind." Dumbledore responded and the two walked in silence.

They attracted a lot of attention on their walk. People noticing Dumbledore was to be expected, but Vicki managed to grab a lot of attention too. She was very well known throughout the school for being popular. Her and Roger were deemed a "power couple" when they were together and had managed to claw their way to the top of the student hierarchy, and had managed to stay there even after their breakup. It definitely helped her new boyfriend Fred was very well liked too. Therefore many people attempted to stop and speak with Vicki, but all she could do was smile and wave as she was pulled away.

They managed to navigate their way into Flourish and Blotts. The store was fairly busy as term was due to start soon and many people were buying their children's school books. However the line for what looked like the signing setup for Newt Scamander was very modest, nothing like the one Vicki remembered for Gilderoy Lockhart a few years previously when he advertised taking over the D.A.D.A role at the time.

"So um...what do I need to do when I get this signed?" Vicki asked Dumbledore nervously as the line was moving fairly quickly and soon they would be seen by Scamander.

"Just be yourself." Dumbledore smiled kindly at her.

"Be myself...sounds like some kind of motivation campaign for depressed teens." Vicki snorted as she laughed, but quickly composed herself as they were at the front of the queue.

When it was their turn they both approached the table. Vicki was a very outgoing student but for once she found herself shy and stood nervously behind Dumbledore as she didn't completely understand what was going on and how she was supposed to act. Scamander greeted Dumbledore as an old friend, even getting off his chair and shaking his hand enthusiastically. Vicki just stood back to watch.

She didn't know much about Newt Scamander other than the brief blurb in his textbook she had read a few times. She knew he was married to a woman who's name she forgot but was named in the book as a dedication. She also knew he was about a hundred years old but Vicki thought he looked great for his age. In the muggle world those who live to that age are very wrinkled with their age and experience evident on their bodies. Scamander on the other hand hardly looked old and weathered. He wasn't young looking but he certainly wasn't old looking either.

"Albus, my dear friend. Who's this pretty, young girl?" Newt asked happily, paying a compliment to Vicki that made her beam.

"This is the Hogwarts Head Girl for the upcoming school year. She's an incredibly bright Ravenclaw student and also quite popular. She's a fairly remarkable student. She's very talented with healing spells, and has used her popularity to petition many positive changes at Hogwarts. I am sure she will go on to do very phenomenal things in her life." Dumbledore boasted about the girl he was with.

The compliments were being laid on thick and now instead of being happy Vicki felt awkward. She still didn't understand why she was there and what was going on. She decided to follow Dumbledore's words "be yourself" and reacted naturally to the situation. She would fake it with what little information she had available.

"I was wondering if you could please sign this for me. I personally stopped taking Care of the Magical Creatures after I barely scraped through with an acceptable during O.W.L. year, which I only got because Professor Hagrid felt sorry for me and thought I was nice," Vicki blabbed on, but quickly wrapped it up when she realised she was talking too much "but my grandmother was an avid student, um, apparently anyway."

"I am very sure you deserved that acceptable. But that's okay, everyone is good at different things. It's what has made us unique." Newt smiled at Vicki. Vicki nervously eyed Dumbledore beside her as she couldn't tell whether Newt was genuinely a lovely person or was simply being sarcastic. Dumbledore just sent Vicki a warm smile and Newt spoke up again.

"Albus just mentioned you've made social changes at Hogwarts, that's already a remarkable achievement at your age. May I ask what you feel is your biggest one?" Newt asked her curiously.

"I uh- well, it's a little controversial..." Vicki stammered out, feeling uncomfortable telling someone so aged what her biggest achievement was. She sent a nervous sideways look to her Headmaster standing next to her.

"You can tell him, Victoria." Dumbledore kindly said to Vicki.

"Great name. Definitely one of my favourites for a female, alongside my beautiful wife's name Porpentina. But yes, please do tell. I'm not very conservative, I make a rubbish old person." Newt smiled at her.

His smile and self-deprecating humour made her feel confident enough to continue, and his compliment on her name made her feel at ease.

"Alright then. I heard a few horror stories about a few fellow students attempting to perform a contraceptive charm on themselves, or tried to get their boyfriends to do it. It's a fairly tricky charm that can cause a lot of damage if not done correctly. I um, approached Madam Pomfrey and asked if she would be willing to offer it as a service if kept on the down low. She's a strict lady but said it's something she's willing to offer if requested. Of course it's not officially advertised to students, this may be the progressive nineties but Hogwarts is not ready for open discussion about sexual health, but the word has been spread and it's there for students." Vicki explained as she went red by the end.

Newt seemed to be in awe, and like his greeting to Dumbledore he stood up and grabbed Vicki's hand as he enthusiastically shook it.

"Bravo, that's quite the achievement. You surely are a bright young witch. I can see why you were sorted into Ravenclaw and why you were picked for Head Girl," Newt beamed as he sat back down, opened the copy of his book and grabbed a pen "Now, how should I make this out to you? Your name is Victoria. Victoria who?"

"Hartwell." Vicki responded briefly but the revelation of her surname sent Newt into shock. He dropped his pen and looked at her wide eyed.

"Yes, Newt. This is her granddaughter. I thought we would both benefit if I bought her to you." Dumbledore spoke up, contributing to the conversation for the first time in a while.

Vicki looked between Dumbledore and Newt. It was now revealed why she was here. Dumbledore needed something from Newt and Vicki was his key somehow, through her connection to her grandmother. Vicki knew that perhaps she should have been annoyed she was being used for her family ties and not for her intelligence or talent. However she was dying of curiousity so she wanted to keep playing along.

"You look like her." Newt spoke up as she noticed he studied Vicki's face intently, even being bold enough to reach out and touch her face as he got a good look at her.

"I don't mean to be rude but I'm going to have to disagree with you. I never met her but I've seen photos. She was half-Veela, and was absolutely stunning. She was even prettier than that stupid sloppy seconds taker Fleur, who also has Veela heritage." Vicki bitterly blurted out, feeling awkward for bringing her insecurities and baggage into the conversation.

"I thought that you and Miss Delacour had made amends?" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Yes. She apologised for asking out Roger when he was still with me, so my comment about sloppy seconds is fairly uncalled for. But it's still not fair. My grandmother gets to be half-Veela and really pretty. Through parental lineage I'm still one eighth Veela. I still never stood a chance against Fleur did I?" Vicki sheepishly smiled, but then feeling awkward about the conversation added on "Speaking about popularity, beauty contests and boy troubles with two old men. I've reached a new low."

"Victoria. If you're anything like your grandmother, you're worth your weight in gold. I've known you for ten minutes and whilst I can't comment on this Miss Delacour, I can happily say your ex-boyfriend was clearly a fool to let you go. You will move on to bigger and better things." Newt happily said to Vicki.

"Already have. Gryffindor boyfriends do the whole boyfriend thing so much better than ones from your own house." Vicki grinned brightly.

Vicki felt energy between Dumbledore and Newt at her statement. She turned to look at Dumbledore and noticed he was giving Newt a look. She couldn't read what the look was saying but it was one of happiness mixed with some kind of "told you so" glint.

"Merlin, Albus. That is exactly something Tori would have said about Andrew." Newt stated.

It took Vicki a few seconds to work out who "Tori" was. It then hit her. Vicki preferred the way she shortened "Victoria" but another way was "Tori". This must have been what her grandmother preferred to be called.

"I suppose I've held onto it for too long. But she made me promise to give it to the most worthy person. Someone who she would deem need it the most and needed what her story was trying to say. I know she had a son, I thought about giving it to him." Newt said after a few moments of silence between the trio, mostly directing his speech to Dumbledore as he referenced some unknown item.

"My father." Vicki weakly smiled, not even acknowledging the mystery item he was speaking about.

"Yes. I had heard that he didn't know the truth of what had happened to his parents, I couldn't bear to be a stranger that tore apart his reality. But I'm now about to do that anyway…" Newt trailed off with a small smile on his face.

"I know you want to protect her memory, Newt. But Victoria Black was a truly remarkable person, and I think her granddaughter, Miss Victoria Hartwell is clever enough to see the truth." Dumbledore kindly said to Newt.

There was silence once more as Vicki could see that Newt was deep in thought. After a pressing silence, he spoke up as he had obviously made up his mind.

"I don't think what Tori did that year was shameful, or bad. She was dealing with perhaps the biggest manipulator in the entire history of magic, and she managed to break free and be the first person to see him for what he truly was. I just cared for her so deeply I wanted to protect her. It would be easy for one to jump to the wrong conclusion," Newt sighed in his long explanation but then kept going "But from what Dumbledore has told me today you're intelligent enough to see the truth."

Vicki wanted to say something reassuring, but didn't know what to say. It was made clear that Scamander and her grandmother shared some sort of bond, with Scamander helping her grandmother get through it. But as Vicki didn't know enough about her grandmother or whatever ordeal they went through, she had nothing of substance to say. Instead she decided to remain quiet, and let Dumbledore step in.

"I have never read the words left behind by Victoria Black but I know why she wrote them. She left it behind as a warning. Not just about Tom Riddle, but as a story to warn others about how powerful and damaging it is to let someone you care about take advantage of you. But mostly she understood how love is the most powerful form of magic and wanted to spread that message." Dumbledore said reassuringly to Newt.

Vicki gasped and put her hands to her mouth in shock. She knew who Tom Riddle was, that was the birth name of Voldemort. Before Cedric she felt her family were fairly lucky and had not been touched by his wrath, one of very few. But now she was about to become privy to information that was not only a well-kept secret but information that linked her family history to the most powerful dark wizard of all time.

Scamander was digging through his briefcase to find something, and it was taking him a while as he kept pulling out random items in error and shoving them back in. Vicki nervously looked between Scamander's frantic searching and Dumbledore who was pleasantly standing with his arms behind his back giving Vicki reassuring smiles.

"Aha! Here we go." Newt smiled in triumph as he pulled out what he looking for in his briefcase.

In his hand Vicki could see a small blue book with a hard bound case. Even from afar she could see in silver very neat hand writing ' _Diary of Victoria Black_ '

"Apparently your grandmother started it as a simple journal to document her final year at Hogwarts. By the end it was so, so much more. When she finished it she left it with me, to spread her message before she left with the person who eventually became your grandfather, Andrew Hartwell. I initially held onto it as I loved her and it was the last piece of her I could hold onto. But then events happened and everything changed as he rose to power and it felt it was too late." Newt sighed, as he held onto the book for a few moments before passing it to Vicki.

Vicki touched the cool cover feeling it under her fingertips. For a moment she wondered what he meant when he said he loved her grandmother as she knew he had a wife but she lost the thought as she looked at the book in her hands. She went to open the cover but Dumbledore put his hand over the cover to keep it closed.

"Not here. Take it home and study it carefully. Learn your grandmother's story." Dumbledore said to Vicki.

She looked at the diary in her hands and nodded her head. The story had been built up so much she wanted to race home and read it, but didn't want to be rude and knew she had to depart from these two wise men properly.

"I promise I'll read it with an open mind and consider everything. I'll honour her memory." Vicki smiled towards Scamander.

"Please also consider it was the forties. Things were very different back then. Care of the Magical Creatures was considered a fashionable class to take, even if it isn't now." Newt said to Vicki, and Vicki could tell it was a very forced joke to hide the anguish inside of him.

Vicki only gave him a weak smile as she bid him farewell. She could tell he felt emotional handing over a prized possession he had held onto for fifty years that meant so much to him and she knew no matter what she said, the feeling would remain.

"Thank you, Newt. Her memory will now be able to rest now that you've passed on her legacy." Dumbledore said to Newt and turned to follow his student out of the book shop. Vicki turned around on her way out to give Newt one last look, watching as he greeted the rest of the people waiting to get their books signed. She saw he had a smile on his face but she could tell he definitely wasn't smiling on the inside.

"So, that's it. You're free to go Miss Hartwell." Dumbledore said to Vicki in the archway of Flourish and Blotts once they were alone.

"You're a fantastic wizard, Professor Dumbledore so please don't take this the wrong way. But you didn't bring me here as a nice deed for me to learn about my family history. I also don't think it was a favour to my grandmother for an opportunity for whatever message lies in this book." Vicki mentioned, but made sure to smile to show she was not angry, but had figured out his intentions.

"Alas, you've caught me." Dumbledore kindly smiled, not denying her statement.

"It's to do with You-Know-Who, isn't it? Tom Riddle, I've read in articles and books that say that was the name he was born under. I'm definitely down for a mutually beneficial agreement, especially considering it seems this journal may hold key information you need." Vicki smirked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore wasn't shocked that Vicki had cleverly come to the right conclusion. He wasn't even surprised she didn't care she was being used. She was the only one who would have been able to retrieve the journal from Newt but it was very convenient she was also the perfect one to do it. Victoria Hartwell was a problem solver and this was her ultimate solution.

"Anyway. Thanks for the opportunity. I'm dying to go and read this though, so I'm going to head home. I guess I'll liaise with you when I'm done so you can pick my brain for the information you require. We'll speak soon." Vicki confidently stated, sending her headmaster a grin as seconds later she had vanished, as she was apparating home without waiting for a response. Not many people would have been brave enough to leave Albus Dumbledore in such a brash manner, but his latest Head Girl certainly was.

Vicki called out to her mother, but had no response. She even tried calling out to Alfred, her mother's partner but also had no reply. It was made apparent she was home alone so she raced into her bedroom, slammed the door, flopped onto her bed and opened the journal. She was hoping no one else would be around so she could submerge herself into her grandmother's story. Both Dumbledore and Newt Scamander had really built up what she would find between those pages and she was bracing herself for one hell of a story.

Even though she was eager to read she took a moment to appreciate the hard blue cover. _The Diary of Victoria Black_. The silver writing was neat, but it was handwritten. Her grandmother had obviously used her wand or a special quill to brand the book in a professional-style, but it was definitely written by hand. Vicki hadn't even opened the book yet and already started to feel a silly form of attachment. She never got the pleasure of meeting her grandmother, and now would be reading her most personal thoughts. She would even have been the exact same age as Vicki when this was written. Vicki was excited to compare her life to her grandmother's, even down to small details on what life was like being a teenager in the forties compared to being a teenager in the nineties.

Taking a deep breath, Vicki took the plunge and opened the front page. There were words on the right – on the first page. Vicki however ignored the words as she looked at the three photographs on the left on the insert of the front cover. Her grandmother featured in all three. Vicki could tell it was her grandmother not only due to the very few photographs she had seen of her grandmother before, but because of her stunning good looks. It was due to her grandmother's half-Veela blood status, and it was very evident. She had shoulder length shining blonde hair styled in the wavy-like fashion of the forties. She also had piercing blue eyes that stuck out like a sore thumb but best suited her lovely oval face shape and high cheek bones with her fair features. She also had a small, petite body that Vicki was jealous of.

Vicki never felt self-conscious, especially after becoming quite popular a few years ago. Many girls at Hogwarts wanted to be Vicki, and many boys wanted to be with her. However Newt's comparison to her grandmother where he stated she resembled her made her feel inadequate. Vicki was very fair skinned and had blue eyes also, but Vicki's eyes were a gentler more subtle blue. Vicki also had brunette hair, a rounder heart-shaped face and a more womanly body. She felt she looked nothing like how beautiful her grandmother looked in her youth. As she predicted however, her grandmother certainly gave the famous Veela Fleur Delacour a run for her money and she felt her insecurities melt away as she swelled with pride for her grandmother.

The top photo showed Vicki's grandmother with a striking boy the same age as her. He fit the "tall, dark and handsome" stereotype very well. He also had a male version of the wavy fashionable hairstyle of the forties and wore his Slytherin uniform neatly. His eyes contrasted with Vicki's grandmother's as they were dark, but were just as piercing. He was perhaps the most handsome boy Vicki had ever seen, another thing that cheered her up as this boy made Roger Davies, her handsome ex-boyfriend look like an unkempt tramp in comparison. Vicki's grandmother was posing with the boy, both of them looking serious as they were leaning against each other, every now and again the boy she was posing with would brush his arm against her grandmother's body. They looked like the most beautiful couple in existence, and were posing in a serious manner to almost brag about this fact.

She recognised the person with her grandmother in the second photo. It was a much younger version of Newt Scamander. Vicki wouldn't have been able to pick his age. He looked like a young man, but she knew he was born in the late nineteenth century so he would have had to have been almost middle-aged by the time her grandmother was seventeen. His appearance was deceiving however, as he looked as if he were in his late twenties at the most. He was fairly good looking, in a much different way than the handsome boy in the other photo. His face was innocent and comforting. He almost looked familiar, but not like anyone Vicki knew. He reminded her of the sort of boy in school who was fairly unknown. The kind of boy who was quiet, but you still had a small crush on, however it was never strong enough to do anything about it. The posing of Newt and her grandmother was very different to the photo above. Vicki's grandmother was holding onto Newt tightly, and they were both smiling brightly, every now and again breaking into laughter. They looked happy, and it made Vicki smile.

The third and bottom photograph was very different. It took Vicki a while to work out who were the ones in the photo. It wasn't until she recognised the location of the photo when she finally realised what the photo was of. She saw a big group of people posing in the entrance hall of 12 Grimmauld Place next to the staircase. It made her laugh for a second as she remembered all the times her, Fred and George had decided to not use that exact staircase and apparate instead, causing occupants of the house to shriek in shock. Here was a photo of her grandmother fifty years earlier creating her own memories within that exact same house. Vicki had a trouble recognising anyone else in the photo, as she had never seen photos of her paternal grandmother's extended family before. She recognised her great grandmother towards the back of the photo as it was evident that was the only other Veela in the room. She also recognised a young Walburgha Black (Sirius' mother – Mrs Black) near the front of the photograph, more towards Victoria Black. This was due to the fact Vicki had seen this woman's portrait screaming all summer. Even in her youth she was pudgy and had a scowl permanently plastered on her face. She noticed Walburgha constantly sent dirty looks towards her cousin, Victoria and Vicki guessed it was due to Sirius' mother being jealous of her fairer cousin's good looks.

After studying the photos for a while she finally turned her attention to the front page. The top of the page said the same thing as the front cover – _The Diary of Victoria Black_ and below it had a small summary of the diary's original purpose – _A record of Tori's final year at Hogwarts_. However below the original summary in black, Vicki noticed more writing in handsome emerald coloured ink. The below summary must have been written at a later date.

 _Beware of the boy with the charming smile and the bewitching eyes._

 _He'll lure you into his trap with his familiarity._

 _You'll be part of a bigger plan and played like a fool._

 _Over time you may come to realise this, but by then you'll find yourself craving the empty promises._

 _Run towards the one with the warm smile and the pure face._

 _For he may not be the one you're seeking but he will be the one to bring you salvation._

Vicki read the poem a few times. This was clearly the 'message' that Newt was talking about. Vicki braced herself and flipped the page, ready to read the story and analyse the text as closely as she could, in order to respect her late grandmother's wish and be ready to understand the information Victoria Black was trying to convey.


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy hell! I can't believe the response this story has gotten with one chapter. Thank you so much! So many people have already favourited and followed the story and I think that's great. It has motivated me to push through and release this so quickly.**

 **In response to the reviews:**

 **Guest: thank you! There will be times where Tom Riddle seems like he is out of character (like this chapter for instance) but at the end of the day he was a master manipulator and a great actor to achieve what he wanted, so the end result is that he's technically in character, if that makes sense.**

 **Sabel930: Thanks for the review. I'm also loving all these Newt Scamander fanfics that have popped up over the past few weeks, here's hoping it inspires some more.**

 **KirikaAndo: Thanks so much! your review certainly pushed me to release an update so quickly.**

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 **September 1, 1944**

The first of September was always an important date for any witch or wizard living in Britain. If you weren't going off to Hogwarts yourself, you certainly knew of somebody else who was. For me this year, it was a bittersweet day. This would be the very last time I would board this train to take me off to a new school year. It may have been an exciting time if I had any idea on what I would do after I finished school, but I didn't have that comfort.

I wasn't a strong academic so I didn't have a lot of doors open for me after this year. I was only taking four classes at N.E.W.T. level, my favourite two were Herbology and Care of the Magical Creatures. Unfortunately I had been pushed into adding two other subjects by my head of house, Professor Slughorn. Defence Against the Dark Arts only required an acceptable and I had barely scraped through from my O.W.L year so I took that class as I was eligible. Most surprisingly though, I was doing Transfiguration. I thought I had failed the exam during O.W.L. year but Professor Dumbledore took me aside and said he was willing to give me an acceptable to carry on the subject into the N.E.W.T. years if I promised to keep up with the coursework. I was struggling, but I was keeping up at least.

I was terrible at classroom-based subjects but seemed to be able to grasp the hands-on practical subjects which is why I excelled at Care of the Magical Creatures and Herbology. Sadly for me though, those were the only two hands-on subjects Hogwarts had to offer. Potions was a subject I was adequate in, but I didn't receive the Exceeds Expectations mark to continue the subject into N.E.W.T. level. I only just fell short of Exceeds Expectations by a few marks, but Slughorn wouldn't budge and I was forced to abandon the subject. I think that's exactly why Professor Dumbledore helped me to continue taking Transfiguration.

A lot of people in Slytherin joked that I should have been sorted into Hufflepuff instead as I best suited the Hufflepuff subjects. Being part of the House of Black meant that I was not destined to be sorted into any house but Slytherin, even though I felt I barely fit in with any of the Black family.

I technically wasn't a pureblood, even though there were no muggles or muggle-borns in my parental or maternal lineage. It was a shameful thing to not be completely pure, as the Black family were perhaps the most proud of their pureblood status and for keeping their heritage exclusive. My father had decided to break away from the tradition of wedding someone distantly related to keep the family and the offspring under the same name, blood status and values. My father instead met a Veela during his time spent in Eastern Europe in his youth and they had me. Therefore I was technically a half-blood.

The sad thing was that if a female in the family had ended up with anything but a pure blooded wizard as a suitor she would have been outcast immediately. But as long as a male doesn't marry either a muggle or a muggle-born, the worst that happens is that mean comments are said behind his family's back. Without muggles tarnishing the blood I was pure enough to still be included, but still slight impure and kept at a slight distance. At school although no one went out of their way to be nasty to me, but I knew some of the fellow Slytherins judged me for my father's actions, instead of judging my father. I certainly didn't have the same level of respect as the other members of the Black family in the school. My father didn't seem to despise his Black lineage but at the same time, he didn't embrace it. He purposely ran away to Eastern Europe in his youth to escape being paired to a cousin by his parents.

There was only one trait of the Black family that he had held onto, and had encouraged me to as well.

The Black family were full of strong people. Though in these conservative times the women were regarded as less equal than men, the Black family were known as producing very strong women. My aunts, cousins and grandmother were motivated and had many strengths. Some of these were in homemaking but mainly they were all skilled at both wand work and potion making. Although they were indoctrinated with the family's centuries old beliefs and values they still had goals they strived to meet. My father wanted me to be strong and meet my own personal goals. I didn't feel I had the same strengths as the rest of my family and certainly not the intelligence. The only thing I had (which was conceited to say) was half-Veela blood which gave me fair looks a lot of girls seemed capable of killing for. In my opinion I'd rather have strength and intelligence over looks.

I never enjoyed the train ride back to school. I didn't have many close friends. My surname meant that my fellow Slytherins didn't cause me any grief but it didn't mean they had to like me, or include me in their activities. The girls in my dorm didn't like me due to the way I looked and the boys in my house didn't include me too much as they didn't want to upset the girls, and also because my dad ended up with a Veela and not a well-ranked female in their community. Therefore I usually ended up in a compartment by myself reading a book, with some awkward strangers who would wander in later when the rest of the train was full.

This was the exact same scenario this year. Most seventh year students were laughing and joking with their friends as they caught up and shared stories from their summer. I, on the other hand, was stuck reading a book in a compartment filled with a bunch of third year Ravenclaw boys who were chattering amongst themselves as I quietly sat in the corner reading my book.

"You're really pretty, you know." I heard one of the boys state with a goofy grin on his face.

I looked over from my book and shot him a look, before burying my face into it again. I wasn't even going to acknowledge that with a response.

"Yeah, you are. You should come to Hogsmeade with us sometime this year. It will be our first time." Another one of the boys spoke up in an excited manner.

I wanted to say something but I felt too shy. I got up to excuse myself but before I could leave the compartment a grinning face appeared at the door, the rest of his body on the outside.

"Sorry lads, but you don't stand a chance with the gorgeous Tori Black. I've been trying for years and I'd like to think my luck is still better than yours." The over confident Gryffindor, Andrew Hartwell smirked, aiming his cocky attitude towards both the younger students and myself.

I rolled my eyes and snapped my book shut. Andrew Hartwell had been trying to go out with me since third year and I was well past thinking it had gotten old. He was so outwardly arrogant, I wasn't just trying to be moody or edgy by denying him. It wouldn't work out, I was too shy and quiet for him.

Hartwell was a seventh year student who displayed all the stereotypical Gryffindor traits, with rumours that his family descended from Godric Gryffindor himself, but I wouldn't be surprised if Hartwell made them up. Hartwell was arrogant, cocky, too over-confident and just downright annoying. I even found his appearance bothersome as he was never neatly groomed. His golden brunette hair was styled in a male pompadour fashion which made his pale blue eyes stand out from the rest of his facial features. He could be considered handsome, with boyish charms. But he wasn't a striking-kind of handsome as his features weren't sharp enough. I always found he had a weak jaw which always irritated me but I could never pinpoint why.

I had never cared to get to know Hartwell so I knew little about him. The only thing I knew was that he was an exceptional Quiddich player and was naturally the Gryffindor Quiddich captain. I only knew this because the entire school were always hammering on about his 'phenomenal' skills. I did not care for Quiddich, just as I did not care for Hartwell.

"Actually Hartwell, these boys probably have a better shot than you, but I'm not sticking around to find out." I stated loudly in disapproval as I put my book back into my book bag and dramatically got up and stormed out of the compartment and down the carriage.

I wasn't expecting Andrew to follow me but moments later I heard him call my name, tailing me as I tried to find a compartment that would stop Andrew from following me in.

"Hey Tori, please wait. I've stopped the constant requests for you to escort me on a date and now only do it on a quarterly basis. You need to hear me out if you want to be left alone for the next three months." Andrew said behind her.

"Fine then. You have a minute. Sixty seconds." I said to Andrew through gritted teeth, wanting to get this over and done with so I would be left alone for the next few months.

"Great! Well. Argument one, I was the first boy to ask you out. It shows I like you for your personality and not your looks, as I clearly was there for you way before anywhere else, which can be included as my second argument. Thirdly, I'm the most ambitious, I'm the only one who keeps coming back for more after many, many rejections. This shows-" Andrew explained, but I cut him off suddenly.

"…and time is up, it's been sixty seconds. Answer is still no." I smugly informed Andrew. I went to stalk off once more but he grabbed my wrist to keep me in place so he could continue talking to me. I felt it was a fairly creepy move on his behalf, but he kept it held lightly so it didn't hurt me, and so I could break away if I really wanted to. I also knew his goofy nature and knew he didn't mean to be demanding or controlling.

"Aw, come on. One last reason, you feel sorry for me. Not due to all the rejections, but because I lost out on being Head Boy to Riddle. That also isn't the main problem, the main problem is that I'm still a Prefect so it means I report to him and he essentially controls me. " Andrew complained wildly.

"I'd love to make some witty remark on that, Hartwell. However I must request that you let Miss Victoria Black go as what you're doing constitutes as harassment." A very formal Tom Riddle proclaimed, coming out of a nearby compartment and I realised he must have heard Andrew bad mouthing him.

Tom Riddle was almost the polar opposite of Andrew Hartwell. Where Hartwell enjoyed athletic success, Riddle enjoyed academic success. The differences did not stop there. Riddle had strong sought-after features, sharp jaw, defined face and even prominent cheekbones. His eyes were dark but striking. He was also well groomed at all times. His hair was always combed neatly into a fashionable wave hairstyle and I'd never seen a hair out of place. Tom Riddle was nothing short of breathtakingly handsome.

"Whatever." Andrew scoffed, sending me a last wink before he disappeared into the sea of students that were walking up and down the carriage trying to speak to as many friends as possible.

I awkwardly scratched my arm under Tom Riddle's gaze, he was staring at me and I felt uncomfortable. I sometimes spoke to him in passing but every time I did I felt ungraceful. Not only was he the most handsome boy you would ever lay eyes on, he was also highly charming and intelligent. He excelled in all of the difficult subjects such as Transfiguration and Charms, and he also took hard electives such as Arithmancy. Every time we had a small conversation I felt inadequate. He spoke with such grace and wit, and I spoke so incoherently compared to him. Having Veela blood running through my veins meant nothing when speaking to the most sought after boy at Hogwarts.

My feelings of inadequacies were not due to a school girl crush, as I certainly didn't obsess over Riddle. It was due to his charms and his popularity status making me feel incompetent, as I almost felt everyone judging me every time I was in his presence. He was perfection.

"Are you alright, Victoria?" Tom asked me with concern, grabbing my wrist as he inspected where Hartwell had been holding onto me to check for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine. As long as you call me Tori, and not by my full name. Only my parents do, it feels weird coming from someone else." I giggled, playfully touching Tom on his arm.

"Fine then. Are you alright, Tori?" Tom asked me, a wide smile plastered on his face, moving his hand from inspecting my arm to put my hand into his own.

"I'm fine. It'll take more than a silly Gryffindor to bring me down." I coyly responded, taking a while to retreat my hand from his as I started to walk backwards, suddenly registering what was happening between the two of us. I backed off until I felt my back touch the wall of the train carriage corridor.

Tom seemed to understand I was backing off and sent me a small smile, cocking his head a little as he watched over me silently. I bit my lip, for once not feeling insecure in his presence but growing excited. I could feel him staring, almost as if he was staring into my soul. It made me feel flattered to receive attention from him.

"Well I better get off to the Prefects carriage. I hope to see you many times this year, Tori." Tom smiled at me, giving me a head nod before he left to go into the opposite direction.

When I made sure he was out of both sight and earshot I let out a very loud sigh and slid my back down the wall of the hallway until I reached the bottom and remained there, sitting as a few disgruntled students had to walk around me.

When I was younger my mother taught me about what having Veela genes would mean. Full blooded Veela could dance and enchant almost any man, making them do stupid things to get the attention of the Veela. This gift didn't extend to those who were half-Veela or less, which actually made me fairly happy as I wouldn't want that kind of life. However it did apparently give me a few charismatic skills should I try to utilise those powers. Throughout my teenage years my mother had been attempting to show me how to use these powers but I always brushed her off. I didn't want powers that helped me use good looks, I wanted to develop substance and intelligence.

Until right now. Tom Riddle was just flirting with me, and I flirted with him right back. I had never felt such intimate feelings towards the opposite sex before. I almost felt a yearning towards enhancing this charismatic gift I had inherited, a hunger to stalk down another suitable young man to try flirting on.

I let out a huge moan as the feelings disappeared as soon as they grew, covering my face with my hands. I felt really conflicted right now, my mind was completely cloudy and I didn't know why.

I heard loud clunky footsteps approach. I could tell they were different from all the students scurrying up and down the corridor as these footsteps were a lot heavier and the sound stopped right in front of me. I removed my hands from my face and saw a Slytherin boy in my year named Rangvald Lestrange in front of me, shooting me the filthiest look he could muster.

"Black, get your sorry behind off that floor this instant. This is not how a respectful woman in our powerful circle behaves." He sneered at me, and to me utter surprise gave me a light kick to my ribs.

His intention was to shock me rather than hurt me, which worked. No pain ran through me but I gasped as I raced my hands to my torso in fright. He sneered and growled one more time for me to "get up" before he stalked away moodily.

I jumped up immediately in case he came back. I didn't dare try and untuck my shirt to see if any bruising was developing as I didn't want to show any skin but I pressed onto the spot where he had kicked. It hurt a little, it may be bruised but at least nothing was broken. There would be no need for a trip to the Hospital Wing upon arrival at the school.

I once again got out my book and went to go find a compartment that was half empty. I certainly now didn't want to bring attention to myself, in fear of being kicked by someone who deemed it necessary if I was acting inappropriately.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the last time I'll say this, but I just want to point out that Tom Riddle will be very out of character in many parts of this story, this chapter included. It's all part of the master plan, you need to remember Tom played the part of a likeable person in school as part of his manipulations. This will be a very dark story, and it will all eventually unfold. Just bear with me.**

 **In response to the reviews:**

 **KirikaAndo - I'm glad you were excited by the appearance of the grandfather! haha. I feel bad putting him in this chapter too because I don't want to force his involvement into the story too much, but as I wrote this at the end I found the perfect opportunity to put something in, and it only worked with him. You'll see at the end of this chapter.**

 **Kavernista - You don't need to joke because I totally would faint too haha ;) only for Chamber of Secrets style Tom Riddle though!**

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I purposely made a point to avoid Tom Riddle for the rest of the train ride. It wasn't hard as he most likely spent the rest of the time in the prefect's carriage giving orders as Head Boy, but I made sure to steer clear of the carriage anyway. Instead I found a compartment filled with timid first year girls who left me alone and let me read my book. It wasn't even clear to me on why I wanted to avoid Tom. He didn't make me feel uncomfortable the same way Hartwell did. I didn't find him annoying or creepy. I did however find myself blushing madly when speaking to him and even found myself fighting to prove myself and finding ways to make him not think I'm a complete idiot.

Speaking of Hartwell however, at the end of the train ride I had to endure Andrew Hartwell once more. He stayed true to his word of annoying me only on a "quarterly " basis and didn't utter a word as he opened the train door for the students to get out (as this was a prefect's duty) however he did give my behind a quick pat as I exited the carriage.

I decided to not give him any acknowledgement and suppressed the urge to shoot him a filthy look as I continued on, not even glancing behind me as I made my way to the carriages that would take us to the school.

I uncomfortably stood around at the carriages as I waited for someone who would allow me to sit with them, whether that be someone I was on good terms with or with someone who wouldn't mind a strange seventh year girl riding with them.

After waiting for a while and watching many carriages leave, I eventually found three of my dorm mates who allowed me to ride with them. During the ride they weren't outwardly rude, as they made an effort to ask me about my summer. However even just ten minutes later the conversation was forced and strained by the time the carriages pulled up outside the castle. They weren't mean, but disinterested. I could see the girls eyeing each other each time I tried to talk about a mundane topic such as Quiddich or the weather. I wasn't sure whether it was a situation where they were being polite by ignoring the elephant in the room (that I didn't mesh well with them if forced to converse in a confined environment) or that they were being catty and would laugh about this behind my back later.

We all clambered out of the carriage. There was a silence between us, I think we all wanted to go into the castle separately (well, me separate from the other three) but didn't know how to bring this up. I decided to once again attempt to make interesting conversation. Once again it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"They're not invisible horse drawn carriages, you know. They're pulled by a thing called Thestrals, only a few people can see them." I stated out loud.

My three dorm mates eyed each other and I could now tell they were trying hard not to burst out with laughter. I remained silent feeling incredibly embarrassed and a little rejected. I didn't feel it was a particularly weird thing to say, especially considering they weren't adding anything to the conversation to begin with.

"Alright Tori. Say, you should stay out here and play with the invisible horsies." Beatrice, one of the girls said in a thinly veiled sarcastic manner. For the first time this evening she was being rude towards me.

I nodded my head sadly. I was right, they clearly didn't want me around. I had attempted to make pleasant conversation the entire carriage ride but they either didn't reply or gave one worded answers. I almost wish they could have been outwardly catty to my face. As it was so passive aggressive it meant I could not hate them or be outwardly horrible back. Instead I ended up with these situations, where I tried really hard to fit in and be polite and instead they made a mockery of me.

"She's right, you know. They are pulled by Thestrals. They may not be the prettiest creatures but they're incredibly misunderstood as they're associated in such a macabre context." An anxious looking man spoke up, looking as though he was doubting whether he should have entered the conversation or not.

I was so busy attempting to connect with my dorm mates I didn't realise there was someone else nearby, aside from all the students climbing out of the carriages. It was dark, but the moon was out tonight so I could still see him.

I had never seen this person before. He definitely was not a student, but he didn't look too much older than one. I made sure to take in all of his features but it was his face that stood out. He was good looking, in an incredibly awkward looking way. He looked very innocent and his face looked almost welcoming.

It was very different to the handsome-style of Tom Riddle. This man's looks made you feel relaxed rather than Tom's striking attractiveness that made you feel uncomfortable and inadequate.

"Oh, okay." Beatrice suddenly stated. One of the girls quickly whispered to her and nodded her head towards the castle. Thinking I wasn't looking the group of girls quickly rushed away to sneakily depart from me, looking over their shoulders to see if I was following them. I certainly wasn't.

I looked back over at the man expecting him to have witnessed the cold treatment by my dorm mates and got ready to have to explain their rude behaviour. However when I turned back to him I noticed his attention had long ago turned back to the Thestrals as he was quietly speaking to them, and I assumed was patting one, although to me it looked like he was touching the air

"Can you see them?" the stranger asked, but then suddenly looked shocked and quickly added on "my apologies. That's an incredibly personal question."

"No, I can't. I've never witnessed death." I responded, knowing the reason why someone can see these creatures. I wanted to ask him if he could see them, but as he had said himself it was a personal question, I thought it may be inappropriate.

"I can. They're a little scary looking but have a very docile personality. I guess their attraction to blood doesn't help." The man answered for me, and it was only then when I realised he was holding a bucket. The colour of the insides were hidden as the darkness consumed the bucket as it was closer to the ground away from the light but I could see a thick textured liquid inside. I knew that Thestrals fed on blood so I guessed the mixture inside was something quite gruesome.

I only smiled at the man, unsure of what to say.

"Lots of students have passed by tonight but you're the first to actually stop and pay attention, even though you can't see them. Would you like to feed one? They'll eat it straight out of your hand, you can still feed them even though you can't see them." The stranger asked me, his innocent face broken into a big smile.

I wanted to say I had only stopped to pay attention due to the fact he had spoken to me first, but I stopped myself. I also briefly considered that a mess from the buckets would likely go all over hands should I attempt to feed the Thestrals. However I came to the realisation that this was an opportunity that didn't come around every day and I certainly wanted to take it. I would figure the rest out later.

But then something else dawned on me. I had no idea who this guy was. Finding myself curious, I decided to ask.

"Are you the new gamekeeper?" I asked him curiously.

"No." He responded politely.

I waited a few moments as I expected him to elaborate on his duties for the school. There was growing silence between us with no further explanation from the man on why he was there.

"Um, a new caretaker then?" I asked, running out of ideas in my mind.

"No." The man responded politely once more, not picking up on the hint that now was his cue to explain himself, as he passed me the bucket he was holding full of grotesque things for the Thestrals to feast upon.

I saw one of the last carriages arrive and a group of boys climbing out. Noticing Tom Riddle's striking form I shuddered a little, wanting to either scurry off before he noticed me and could strike up a conversation, or at least make myself hidden so he didn't notice me. The good news was that Tom didn't seem to see me. However someone else did, and this person was adamant on making a big scene.

"Black, are you serious? Firstly you act highly inappropriately on the train, now here you are holding a bucket of filth in the company of a strange man. I know your father married some filthy creature whore, but doesn't mean you need to act like one too," Rangvald Lestrange scoffed loudly towards me, spitting at my feet before adding on another threat "Do you need another kick to the ribs again?"

My hands were full so I was unable to defend myself. Luckily for me, both the stranger who was tending to the Thestrals swiftly got out his wand and jumped in front of me. Tom Riddle had noticed the scuffle and he too hurried over and pointed his wand at Lestrange.

"Wow, calm down. I'm just doing us all a favour, Black included. We need to keep these women in line, it'll lead to a much happier life for her as well." Lestrange stated as he started to back away slowly.

"You need to go." The stranger said in a low tone, very different to his happy-go-lucky demeanour he had a few moments ago. He failed to sound very threatening as he still looked too innocent and friendly, but his personality was certainly different from before.

Lestrange only laughed, not taking the man seriously. He had backed off from me as he clearly was taken off guard as he didn't anticipate somebody to defend me, but now he was laughing.

"Rangvald. I will not tolerate somebody in my inner circle of friends speaking to women in that manner. I think you should go as well. You can re-join us all when you feel you can apologise to Tori sincerely." Tom piped up, speaking for the first time and sounding annoyed at Lestrange, also using the nickname for me that I asked him to use on the train.

I could tell Lestrange was angry. He seemed too mad for words as he was left gaping and only making strange noises. I guess he was annoyed his sexist and bigoted attitudes backfired and he was angry Tom was siding with a "blood traitor woman" rather than himself - a powerful member of the inner Slytherin circle. His family held the strongest views of keeping magic pure (aside from the Black family) so it seemed he really had an issue that my father ended up with a Veela and not a witch, even though she wasn't affiliated with muggles at all.

Lestrange stormed off, making sure to bump shoulders with me in doing so. I cried out in pain and rubbed where he had brutally knocked me.

"Are you okay? If you need me to take you to the hospital wing I'll just be five more minutes tending to these Thestrals and then I can take you." The stranger offered kindly, the smile on his face making me feel better.

"Oh, no that's okay. His kick before didn't hurt and my shoulder will be fine. Thanks though." I smiled at him and quickly recoiled my hand from my shoulder.

"In that case I can escort you inside. The activities will be starting soon." Tom offered me quickly, extending his arm for me to take. I had momentarily forgotten that Tom was still there.

"I guess I better go inside then. Thank you for the opportunity though, I'd love to take it up again sometime." I smiled as I thanked the stranger who said goodbye to me as I accepted Tom's arm.

I was incapable of speech as we silently made our way into the Entrance Hall and then into the Great Hall. It would be a blatant lie to say I never received male attention but I had certainly never had anyone on the same calibre as Tom Riddle ever take a second look at me. I may not have swooned over him like the other girls in our school before tonight, but after seeing how much of a gentleman he had been tonight, I might be coming around.

I noticed that Tom and I attracted a lot of attention together as we made our way in-between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables as we walked down the Great Hall and eventually sat down at the Slytherin table. I noticed the three of my dorm mates who had run off on me before look shocked, as they started nudging each other and pointing in our direction.

Tom, who must have incorrectly assumed they were waving me over and that they were my friends, sat me down next to them. He even held the seat out for me. Not wanting to be rude or wanting to explain the inner dramas of the seventh year Slytherin girls I sat down, feeling incredibly awkward to be in the presence of the girls who were very rude to me a short while ago.

I started to feel a little better when Tom occupied the seat next to me. I didn't feel so uncomfortable being in their company now. I wasn't alone.

Although I was shocked at the appearance of the three girls once I finally took a good look at them.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you three?" I asked the girls. They had been pelted with some kind of white powdery substance that they had attempted to remove from their uniforms but it was still prevalent.

"Peeves." Beatrice, the informal leader of their friendship circle stated with gritted teeth.

Not wanting to alienate myself from the girls further I hid my joy and shot her a sympathy look as I turned back to Tom. If I had gone in with them that would have been me also in Peeve's firing line. Or if they hadn't run off they would have been spared. Either way it was hilarious.

"So I feel we don't talk nearly as much as I'd like to, Miss Black. How was your summer?" Tom pleasantly asked me.

I blinked in confusion as I wasn't expecting him to make idle chit chat with me. I also didn't know what to say. I wasn't terribly exciting. In fact my life was fairly mundane, so I didn't know how to make good conversation.

"A little boring, I'm afraid. Plenty of Black weddings to attend of course, but other than that I was mostly cooped up in my room. Did you enjoy your summer?" I nervously asked Tom, deciding to stay truthful.

Tom opened his mouth to respond to my question but Headmaster Dippet stood up and began to address all the teachers and students and the entire hall fell silent.

I always tried to listen to the start of term speeches as closely as possible but it never worked to my favour and I always found my mind wandering off. Today was no exception. As Tom Riddle was seated beside me (and in my line of sight towards the teacher's table) I kept staring at him. I always knew he were good looking, but I had never really taken into consideration how much I found him attractive.

I used to find it amusing how girls always fawned over him – even some Gryffindor ones. All the teachers spoke so highly of him too, it was no shock to anyone when he was made Head Boy. Everyone seemed to adore Tom Riddle. But now I found my face growing hot in his presence. I had never really developed crushes on anyone at school before. My mother used to sigh and say I must not yet be "developed" and that it was odd that a girl of my age had not yet grown an interest for boys – no matter how many times family and friends told her how lucky she was that she need not worry about me yet. But something had changed inside me between the end of the previous school year and now. I wasn't entirely sure whether I had changed, or if Tom had done something that made me grow interested in him. As giddy as I felt, I was excited to find out.

Sometimes during Headmaster Dippet talking he would look over at me (as I was seated behind him) and send me a smile. I would smile back but try to pretend I had not been staring at him. I don't know how well it worked, but he didn't act strange towards me.

It was during one of his smiling moments when one of the doors to the hall loudly burst open behind us. Tom's smile disappeared and a frown appeared on his face as I noticed his eyes look towards the door. I spun around on my seat and saw the stranger from before with the Thestrals walk down the Great Hall. I could see him flash a nervous looking grin towards everyone as he uncomfortably made his way to the staff table.

"That strange man was at the carriages before! He was so queer!" Beatrice loudly whispered to anyone within earshot. I rolled my eyes – she was being ridiculous, she had barely even conversed with him.

I thought she may have stated this to grab attention and I was correct as she repeated herself until Tom acknowledged her, batting her eyes at him once she did.

He chose not to even acknowledge her and kept his attention on the man who entered and I could tell he was deep in thought.

I knew it was jealousy in me when I found my chest tightening at Beatrice's flirting and I certainly didn't like it. Even though I was sure that was the end of it, for the first time tonight I permanently kept my eyes off Tom. I didn't like that angry and bitter feeling rising inside me, especially considering it had grown so ugly over a few playful words and light touching. I decided now was as good time as any to pay attention to the start of term announcements.

"Sorry, the Thestrals started fighting each other. Then uh, they decided to mate there and then." The man I spoke to before stated, clearing his throat and I could tell he was embarrassed to be sharing that information with the entire school.

A few students laughed loudly at this information, myself included until I noticed a lot of people at our table stare me down rudely, Lestrange included. I nearly glanced towards Tom to see if he would protect me but I realised I'd hate to see Beatrice flirting with him again so I kept my eyes on the unknown man.

"A simple 'The Thestrals required my attention' would have sufficed." Dippet said towards the man in a disapproving tone after clearing his throat.

I saw the man stutter a little and bow his head out of shame. I almost felt a little sorry for him, but I wasn't going to pipe up and defend him in front of all the students and teachers.

"But let this be a perfect time to introduce you all to your new Care of the Magical Creatures teacher. I feel you all will find him perfect for the post. Please give Professor Newton Scamander a warm welcome." Dippet announced loudly with a big smile on his face.

I dropped the fork I had been playing with in shock. That was Newt Scamander I was speaking to? The most well-known Magizoolgist in recent history? This would be such a fantastic Care of the Magical Creatures class.

Before anyone could speak up, there was a loud voice heard from the Gryffindor table.

"You're JOKING." The voice of a very keen boy yelled out towards Dippet.

The entire hall burst out laughing at this comment, well aside from most Slytherins, myself included. In fact I crossed my arms as I was so unimpressed with the outburst.

"I am not joking Mr Hartwell," Dippet spoke up, clearly as unamused as I was "I can't tell you the last time I even came close to telling a joke."

I noticed Newt Scamander scrunch his face at Dippet's telling off at Andrew Hartwell. I also noticed a twinkle at the corner of my eye and saw Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration teacher send a small reassuring smile towards the Gryffindor table.

I looked back at Tom for the first time in a while and I couldn't read his expression this time. He was looking at Scamander with some kind of determination in his eyes. I couldn't tell whether it was an impressed look or one of disgust, or if it was something else entirely. Tom Riddle was a hard boy to read.

I could tell one thing though. Between Tom Riddle and Newt Scamander this would be one interesting year.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the bit of the delay and sorry this is shorter than the others, I'm trying to push through some writer's block before I start writing the good stuff**

 **In response to the reviews (I love you guys so much:**

 **Kavernista: Yeah in the later movies I just pretended that was a younger version of him and puberty was kind to him ;) hahaha. I think your prediction comes true in this chapter though! I'd love to give a long in depth comment about it but I don't want to give it away!**

 **ErikaconlaK: Thanks for the really sweet review, I'll try and pump them out as quick as I can**

 **KirikaAndo: Also thanks for the nice review but also thank you for introducing me to the spelling of "Noot" haha, all weekend I was running around the house yelling "Noot, noot!" Pingu style**

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The first few days of school were exactly as I anticipated. Fairly mundane, with the teachers giving us lots of homework whilst telling us about how hard N.E.W.T year was and how we had to take it seriously. I took the teacher's warnings well, but at the same time I wasn't sure how well I'd do. Even when I keep up with my homework and pay attention during lessons I still find the work difficult.

Tom and I began to talk a little more as well. He sometimes sat with me at meals to talk about my day and had invited me to sit with his friends a few times in the Slytherin common room. Rangvald Lestrange had stopped taunting me and I wondered if Tom had said anything else to him about it.

Most people in Slytherin had become a little nicer to me now that Tom was paying attention to me. The girls began to include me in more of their activities and the boys started acting more chivalrous towards me. It was a little odd, I thought it would be the other way around as it seemed every girl had a crush on him, but he had managed to make my life at Hogwarts a little more enjoyable.

The big news and gossip however was our new Care of the Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Newton Scamander. The seventh years had yet to participate in the class as all of our Care of the Magical Creatures lessons were scheduled towards the end of the week. But we had heard many exciting stories from students in younger years.

"He told us many tales from when he was travelling around the world collecting and studying creatures, he's so knowledgeable!" I had heard one fifth year squeak at breakfast yesterday.

I was really excited for Care of the Magical Creatures class granted a breath of fresh air. Our previous teacher was very old and had ended up conducting more classroom based tasks rather than ones outside where we got to study the creatures. Learning from the world's most famous Magizoologist seemed like the best way to learn.

Wednesday afternoon finally came around – the day I would have Care of the Magical Creatures for the first time this year. The seventh years had a single period on Wednesday, a single period on Thursday and a double class last thing Friday afternoon.

A few of my fellow Slytherins were taking Care of the Magical Creatures and were headed down to the grounds but Tom Riddle was not one of them. He had (very politely) told me had had no use for the class in his future and had told me instead he had elected to take Arithmancy alongside other noble electives. I wasn't offended, in fact I was almost jealous I wasn't smart enough to do that subject myself.

However my dorm mates Beatrice, Drucilla and Cordula were in the class and invited me to walk down with them. Rather than me having to force conversation on them, they spoke in an excited manner, including me in their exchanges. It was very different to start of term when they had (in a condescending manner it seemed) forced me to make all of the conversation.

"I'm actually quite excited for the class. Scamander is quite good looking, isn't he?" Beatrice stated loudly.

I only shot her a weak smile as we made our way down the cobbled footpath to where the lesson would be held today. Just a few days ago when she didn't know who he was she had loudly exclaimed he was "strange". Now that she knew he was a famous researcher he was suddenly "good looking". I could see straight through her thought process but didn't feel strong enough to say anything about it. I'd rather not create drama now they are finally being nice to me and including me.

"He doesn't shine a light to Tom Riddle though. You're so lucky, Tori. He's taken quite the liking to you." Cordula said, lighting patting me on the shoulder to emphasize the point.

I was about to respond modestly and inform her nothing was going on between us and that we were just polite acquaintances when Drucilla spoke up first, just as we were within earshot of the rest of the class we were joining.

"Can we please drop this pathetic act? She's half-Veela for Merlin's sake, she may not have any dirty mudblood in her but she's still a half-breed. She doesn't belong with us. She's not a pure blood and will never marry into any respectful family!" Drucilla hissed loudly.

The entire class looked over at us upon Drucilla's outburst and I felt a lump forming in my throat. The Slytherin boys all had smirks on their faces and I could see a few snicker upon her words. I wish I could be a person who didn't get so emotional. In my head I imagined myself keeping cool and saying something witty straight back at Drucilla. She would be highly annoyed and embarrassed that not only did she not get the intended reaction out of me, but my comment would just drive the stake in further.

In reality though if I spoke up, I knew I'd burst out crying. No witty comebacks to her argument entered my head. Staying silent may not have been a great solution, but it was still above her seeing me cry.

"You clearly don't know much about magic and non-magic beings in that case, so I would advise you to close your mouth and pay attention in my class if you have that mindset." Professor Scamander snapped at Drucilla.

I hadn't even noticed he was present, but he was and he was also leaping to my defence. Being angry and authoritative didn't seem to suit him. It just didn't match up with his kind and sweet face, and I could tell Drucilla wasn't taking him very seriously.

"Come on, Scamander. You out of everyone should understand Hogwarts is no place for anyone with Veela genes. You said it yourself in your book. 'Near-human intelligence' ring a bell? They're not even human, and the offspring of one would remain the same. She's not a witch. This is a school for witches and wizards." Drucilla ranted loudly and it became obvious to me this was the result of days of holding it in after most of the Slytherin house had now accepted me now I was affiliated with Tom. She clearly had been wanting to say this for a while, perhaps even longer than I had realised.

I didn't know how to feel at Drucilla's words. They were incredibly hurtful both to myself and my mother. I was now beyond upset and almost felt numb at her words. I decided to try and see the humour, it was all I could do to not break down. She sounded uneducated and pathetic, and I began to laugh loudly at her stance.

"Oh, ha, ha. Laugh it up. You know it's true, no point deluding yourself." Drucilla scoffed, rolling her eyes towards me.

The whole class was silent as they were watching the exchanges between Drucilla and I. A quick glance confirmed my suspicions that all eyes were on us. I didn't know what to think or how to behave.

My eyes flicked to Professor Scamander. I didn't know him well enough (or at all really) so I couldn't read his expression well. I would have to say he looked conflicted, like he didn't know what to do. I guess any teacher on their first week would feel the same if two girls were about to break into a fight over one of them sprouting out racist insults.

I could tell Professor Scamander was different to most teachers though. He seemed very sweet and kind by the sort of aurora he shined. I also knew it took a considerate and friendly person to care and study creatures to the extent he had. Somebody kind-hearted would always struggle in difficult situations such as the one Drucilla was starting right now. A strict teacher would have sent her to Professor Dippet's office. The punishment Drucilla was about to get may not have been strict, but exactly what was required.

He motioned for us to follow him as he took a few steps away from the rest of the class so we would be out of earshot. I happily followed whilst Drucilla sighed and begrudgingly came after us.

"What are both of your names?" Professor Scamander asked us both.

It dawned on me that even though we spoke just before the start of term feast, we didn't introduce ourselves. I had at the time wondered why he didn't state who he was or why he was there but never even considered I was just as rude.

"I'll tell you her name. Victoria Black. She doesn't deserve such a prestigious and powerful surname though." Drucilla scoffed loudly.

"What is your name then?" Professor Scamander asked her, ignoring all of her insults towards me.

"Drucilla Carrow." She proudly stated and even stood up straighter to puff her chest out. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright then Miss Carrow. I suggest you take yourself to the library and do some reading about Veela. It appears your knowledge in this area is lacking and by seventh year a basic knowledge on Veela is required. You may come back next class when your knowledge is up to date." Professor Scamander said to Drucilla. Although his choice of words were harsh, his tone was not. He used a neutral tone, as if he were speaking to a friend. I thought Drucilla would eat him alive due to his lack of authority.

However I was completely wrong. She was silent for a while and looked him in the face. He copied her actions, and half a minute later she let out a loud, annoyed sigh and dramatically picked up her book bag as she stormed her way back up to the castle.

As her back faced us I turned to look at Professor Scamander. I expected him to stay firm but instead he broke into a large grin. He seemed to go back into the cheerful person he is straight away.

"How'd I go? Firm but fair? I was really trying for firm but fair." Professor Scamander asked me excitably, a big grin on his face.

"You succeeded. Not only is she punished, it's a useful form. She'll become more educated. It won't help her racist attitude, but she'll come out a bit wiser." I weakly smiled. I knew Drucilla's 'punishment' wouldn't change these feelings she must have been holding onto for a while, but I didn't want to ruin his spirit.

Professor Scamander dropped his smile a little, as he started to grow a little more serious.

"I do apologise if the comment in my book 'near-human' intelligence was offensive. You see-"Professor Scamander began, but I cut him off abruptly.

"It's fine. I've done quite a bit of reading in the subject. It's a term used to compare how similar these creatures are to humans. Besides, most humans are dumb anyway, and most creatures are much better company than silly people." I giggled.

"Yes, well I'd love to agree with you, but it's perhaps not very professional as a teacher to say," Scamander agreed with me, but then added on "Being part-Veela isn't such a bad thing anyway. They have their advantages."

I cocked my head a little bit as I was confused at what he had added on. It had nothing to do with what the topic had shifted to, but he had obviously mentioned it in an attempt to cheer me up as I was picked on by Drucilla for my mother's heritage. He was either still mulling over what had happened, or maybe he was really scared that agreeing creatures were better than humans was off-limits as a teacher.

"Well hearing the great Newt Scamander's words about my mother's background in depth would be amazing, but you kind of have a class to teach." I whispered to him, nodding over to where the rest of the class were waiting. Some of them were watching over in anticipation of the class beginning.

"Oh, maybe some other time then. Besides, the most obvious holds true. Veela's possess almost unimaginable beauty, to which you have clearly inherited from your mother. That's a pretty strong advantage." Professor Scamander declared.

I snapped my head up to look him in the eye, but unfortunately he swiftly turned away to walk back to the class. I really wanted to read his expression to see if he meant something by that comment, or whether it was a matter-of-fact observation that had come out the wrong way (or perhaps I was reading too much into it).

Either way I had a huge smile on my face. My cheeks turned rosy and I mouthed 'oh my god' as I bought my hand to my mouth. It wasn't rare for someone to call me beautiful but it was rare for me to have this reaction.


	5. Chapter 5

**So I'm over my writer's block and have plenty of ideas now which is good. There are a few "squee" moments in this chapter but oh my god, you're all gonna die during the next one! I can't wait to write it.**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **Kavernista: I freakin' love your reviews! I always get so giddy and grin like an idiot and want to squeal loudly like a school girl ha ha. I got excited writing this and had you in mind during some of the moments!**

 **KirikaAndo: Thank you SO much for the feedback. I usually write different types of stories where it's really slow paced (like it takes dozens of chapters for romance to grow) and the girls are usually a lot stronger and more independent than Tori, so I'm so glad you're enjoying this one! I'm enjoying writing it :)**

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Drucilla began to leave me alone after her punishment that Professor Scamander gave her. I doubt it had anything to do with broadening her education, more the fact people started teasing her for the fact the newest, softest teacher had dished out an unusual punishment. She wasn't any nicer to me, but now she completely ignored me. Even if our whole dormitory were submerged in conversation she would pretend I didn't exist should I speak up. I preferred it that way. She may have only started causing me grief very recently but I was already very sick of it. As far as I was concerned, what would have been a big problem had now been nipped in the bud.

The year had started to fall into place very quickly. Between classes, study and homework I found myself very hard pressed for spare time. I was doing very well in Care of the Magical Creatures and doing fairly well in Herbology. However as I had expected I was struggling with Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. I spent majority of my spare time doing extra homework to try and wrap my head around the coursework to stay afloat. It was getting to a point where even Professor Dumbledore had noticed.

"Are you having trouble turning your plant into a saucepan, Miss Black?" Professor Dumbledore asked me in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson.

No one else paid attention as they were all struggling with the difficult task themselves. Turning a living thing into something mundane but useful was a very difficult thing to do, even though it sounded fairly easy. I flushed red at the attention from Professor Dumbledore, even though I didn't know one other person in particular was listening in.

"Um, a little. But that's fine, I'll get the hang of it soon." I weakly smiled, wanting Professor Dumbledore to move along and leave me alone. Unfortunately I was out of luck, as he seemed even more adamant than before to lend a hand.

"Sometimes it doesn't take intelligence to make a great witch or wizard, but one who can ask for help when needed." Dumbledore smiled at me, his eyes twinkling with his statement over his half-moon spectacles.

I only sent a small smile back. I couldn't be rude to the deputy Headmaster and my Transfiguration teacher but at the same time I didn't want to offer too much encouragement, as I was hoping he would go away and leave me alone. Hopefully a non verbal reply would get my emotions across.

"Here, I'll show Victoria. Are you watching?" Tom Riddle piped up and I noticed he had come to occupy the empty seat next to me suddenly.

I looked between Dumbledore and Tom Riddle as I suppressed a groan. As much as I wanted Dumbledore to leave me alone, I didn't want Tom to think any less of me either. If he had to show me how to do the spell, I would look like a complete and utter fool. I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I had recently finally admitted to myself that I held feelings for Tom Riddle. He had constantly been doing chivalrous things such as holding out chairs for me, opening doors and even once loaned me his blazer when I had Herbology and accidentally left mine in the castle and it was a little chilly. He was a perfect gentleman, who wouldn't develop feelings during this courtship?

As far as I knew he was courting me exclusively. He had always been a charmer and polite to everyone, but he had never acted this keen towards any other girl before. This theory was backed up by others, as lots of girls mentioned how "lucky" I was, even girls from other houses who had never spoken to me before. It took a lot to break down my shy walls, but somehow Tom Riddle had managed to do so.

"That's very kind of you to offer, Tom. However I'll show her how its done." Professor Dumbledore said to Tom.

I eyed Tom and he sent me a sly smile after rolling his eyes at Professor Dumbledore. It was the first time I had ever seen him give a teacher attitude (even if it was when he wasn't watching) and it made me giggle. I liked seeing a new side of Tom Riddle.

"Pertego!" Professor Dumbledore said calmly, pointing his wand at my plant. Before our eyes it turned into a very impressive looking saucepan.

"The secret with spells involving living things is to say it calmly. If you shout or be too energetic they're not going to want to change, are they?" Tom piped up, wanting to have the last say over Professor Dumbledore.

"Correct." Professor Dumbledore stated kindly, aiming it towards both Tom and I.

Tom put his plant in front of me, as mine had already been changed. I took a deep breath as I noticed Professor Dumbledore was watching me too, he was even ignoring pleas for help by another girl in the class as he focused on what I was doing. I tried to not focus on Tom or Professor Dumbledore watching me and opted to clear my mind as I used the advice Tom had given me.

"Pertego." I peacefully called out, giving my wand just a gentle wave towards the plant.

Moments later a saucepan sat in front of me. It was no way near on the same calibre as Dumbledore's as it looked old and shabby looking, but I had successfully transfigured the plant into the pan and had passed today's task.

"Bravo, Miss Black." Professor Dumbledore complimented kindly, before finally moving along to the other students begging for help. I did however notice he would still watch Tom and I from the corner of his eye.

"You did really well, Tori." Tom said to me as he gave me a pat on the back. He took a while to remove his hand, giving me an affectionate rub on the back for a short while.

I stayed quiet, blissfully enjoying his touching. I had been wanting to speak with him for a few days to see what our relationship was to him (or if there was any glimmer of a relationship at all) but I didn't have the courage. It was improper for a lady to lead those conversations, it was up to the man to do so.

"Say. Why don't I help you with your Transfiguration work? We can meet on a regular basis and I'll help you through it." Tom proposed to me, sending me a charming smile that made my insides melt with attraction to him.

"S-sure. Will any of your friends be there?" I stammered out.

Tom had a group of close knit friends that he spent a lot of time with. Some people joked they were a 'gang' but it was rare to see him without them. That was before he had started to show an interest in me, as he was now spending a considerable amount of time with me too.

"No. It'll be just our little private sessions." Tom purred, and I bit my lip with excitement. He was clearly flirting with me, and he wanted to spend one on one time with me. This was a good thing in my books.

I noticed Professor Dumbledore looked our way again but brushed it off as I turned back to Tom.

"Sure. Just tell me when." I responded, trying to remain neutral and hide my excitement.

The bell rang and I groaned as it couldn't have come at a worse time. However it seemed it wasn't all bad based on what Tom was about to offer.

"What class do you have now? I have Arithmancy but I'd still love to walk you to your next class. I can tell my teacher Head Boy duties called." Tom asked me as we both started to pack up our things.

"Here I was thinking you were a model student but today you've rolled your eyes at a teacher, plan to be late and plan to lie to the teacher. Tsk tsk." I teased as I stood up and waited for Tom.

"There's a lot of secrets you don't know about me. Maybe if you hang around me I'll let you in on a few." Tom winked as he grabbed my books from me and draped an arm over my shoulder as we began to walk outside.

I mentioned to him I had Care of the Magical Creatures next but I found it hard to pay attention to him as I was so excited his arm was around me. I also noticed we received a lot of stares and whispers as we made our way through the corridoors and outside of the castle.

As we made our way down to the outskirts of the grounds a few members of Tom's gang came to join us and walk down with us. I grew uncomfortable and Tom seemed to sense at as he squeezed my shoulders roughly to calm me down. Tom mentioned to them he was walking me down but didn't ask them to leave us be. So they joined us.

"Did you know Scamander got expelled when he was at Hogwarts. He was a Hufflepuff, he must be the only one in that house to have ever been given the boot." Avery snickered loudly as he explained.

"What? That's impossible. How can he be allowed to practice magic? They snapped the wand of that third year that killed that girl after he was expelled." I piped up.

"Yes, that's because he killed a girl." Tom chuckled. However it wasn't a warm or friendly chuckle. In fact I could pick up on sarcastic and cold undertones. He also removed his arm from my shoulder. Tom was clearly not happy with me and what I had said.

The rest of his gang laughed along cruelly and I blushed and looked down. Not only did I say something really silly, I forgot that Tom was the one who uncovered that kid two years ago and stopped the Chamber of Secrets from opening again. Therefore he wasn't coming to my defence from the jeers of his gang and let them attack me verbally. They were ruthless, calling me names like "silly woman" but after laying it on thick for a minute they finally got bored and it stopped.

"Scamander was definitely expelled, though. My aunt played a prank on some mudbloods when she was here at Hogwarts, but got caught, so Scamander took the blame because he was so pathetically in love with her." Rangvald Lestrange wickedly grinned, as if he was proud of what had happened and what his aunt had done.

I wanted to speak up in Professor Scamander's aid. I wanted to tell them all he was a great wizard who had done absolute wonders for wizard kind through all of his research on magical creatures. I even wanted to mention he seemed like such a kind and gentle soul, and what Rangvald's aunt had done was absolutely horrid, especially if she let Professor Scamander take the fall out of unrequited love for her. But I kept my mouth shut. I was ripped to pieces when I had said a silly comment, imagine how they'd all react if I said an opinion they all strongly disagreed with?

We arrived at the Care of the Magical Creature class area and Tom turned to me. He seemed to be his normal self again, he certainly stopped being cold towards me.

"I guess I better go. I'll see you at dinner, alright beautiful?" Tom asked me as he gave me a kiss on the top of my head.

"Okay." I beamed, smiling at him as he confidently strode back up to the castle.

I turned back to face the class and noticed all eyes were on me. A few guys had let out a few catcalls and a few of the girls were looking over with dreamy faces, obviously imagining themselves in my position. I was embarrassed, I wasn't used to being outwardly envied before. I even saw Professor Scamander looking at me, an almost unreadable smile on his face, it looked a little different to the usual cheerful smiles he had, but it was still a smile.

"Boyfriend?" He asked me, as I took my usual spot at the front of the class, coming closer to me and speaking lowly enough into my ear so I would be the only one who heard him.

He moved away from my ear to study my face, he was still wearing a sheepish grin.

"Um, no. We're still in the courtship stage, I think." I responded, growing bright red due to the fact I was speaking about my love life with a teacher.

"Make sure he works hard for it, then. I obviously don't know you very well, but I think you deserve something really special." Professor Scamander stated to me, before he looked up to the rest of the class and started the lesson as if he hadn't just paid me a highly personal compliment.

I stopped and stared at him in wonder. He was definitely my favourite teacher. In the past few weeks of classes we had gotten along really well. I was getting excellent marks and found the coursework easy but enjoyable. We also (during class) spoke one on one about many different creatures, as well as his research. One time when we were in the classroom during theory work he had stood in front of me and spoke about his travels. He told me all about how he would love to visit Australia and New Zealand, as he had not yet had the chance to do so. I would almost consider him a friend if not for the fact he was my teacher.

Was it normal for him to be calling me beautiful and special? Was it perhaps wishful thinking on my behalf in that I was hoping it were more than just friendly words?

I sighed and grabbed a quill and piece of parchment from my stationary supplies. I took a seat on a tree stump and rested the parchment on one of my heavy textbooks so I could write on it. Professor Scamander was currently teaching but I knew he wouldn't say anything if I wasn't paying attention. This letter was more important. My mother was about to get her ultimate wish.

 _Dear mother,_

 _I hope you are well._

 _Please make sure father does not see this letter. I will send you another one later that will be father-friendly with more appropriate news about my school year._

 _A very suitable boy has been pursuing me this year. He is also in the Slytherin house and is the school's Head Boy. He is highly intelligent and is taking lots of difficult subjects and not to mention he is incredibly handsome._

 _I feel I don't have the smarts to win him over completely but he is still interested. I said something stupid in front of him today and he didn't seem happy but he still wants to see me. Any words of advice on how to guarantee our relationship would be much appreciated._

 _There's also one other matter I wish to discuss as I feel I can't speak to any of the girls in my dorm about (they all love the Head Boy and would inform him to jeopardise our growing relationship)._

 _There's another person who may be showing interest in me, who probably shouldn't. I'm not sure whether he's just a nice person or is showing attraction to me. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things out of fear, or perhaps because I want him to feel things for me. How do you tell when a man is desiring you? Any other things you can advise me on?_

 _Once again please make sure father does not see this letter, I'll write you a decoy letter later you can show him._

 _All my love,_

 _Your darling daughter Victoria x_

I re-read the letter a few times. It was difficult as I had to ensure no one was reading over my shoulder, but I also had to pretend to be paying some kind of attention to the class so Professor Scamander didn't come over and see the letter either.

Once I was happy with it I shoved it in between the pages of my textbook. I would go to the owlery immediately after class and anxiously wait until my mother's response arrived.

"Tori, are you alright?" Professor Scamander called at the front of the class.

It took me a second to realise it was he who was asking, it was rare for a teacher to call a student by their first name, let alone a nickname.

"Fine." I responded in a faux nonchalant manner in an attempt to not appear anxious or nervous.

"She's probably day dreaming about Tom Riddle, but who can blame her?" one of the girls in the class giggled loudly.

A few laughs rang out around the class. I purposely avoided looking for Professor Scamander's reaction as I did not want to misinterpret anything. I wanted to hear back from my mother before I even attempted to read into Professor Scamander's actions from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this one took a while to get out. You'll find it was WELL worth the wait though ;) it's pretty long too.**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **Kavernista- once again thank you for the absolutely amazing review! It was the best thing I saw that day. And on that day while I was interviewing someone for a position at my work a big group of naked guys ran down the street screaming so it's not like it was a mundane day! Thought about you as I wrote this one too.**

 **KirikaAndo- on the same note as above the next day I got to wake up to your review and it was fhe best start to the day, thanks! To clear up confusion yes Rangvald Lestrange is Leta's son... there was a "Lestrange" in Voldemort's gang in the books so I thought it would be cool to make him Leta's son, the timelines match up. As Tom was in school up until 1945 it's set in the 40s which would also make Newt in his 40s. But as stated both by Vicki (grand daughter at the start) and Tori, he ages freakishly well. Tori said he looks no older than mid to late 20s during this story and basically looks the same still as he did in the film.**

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It didn't take me long to receive a response from my mother. When the evening post came the next night I had a handsome school owl bring me a letter with my mother's handwriting on the address at the front of the envelope. It was made obvious my mother had obviously written to me the second she received my letter.

I wanted to open it there and then at dinner but I knew it wasn't appropriate as there were so many people around. This had to be read in private so I didn't risk anyone else seeing it.

I scoffed down my dinner and headed back to my dormitory. All the other girls were still out as it was quite early but I still closed the curtains on my four poster bed and then hurriedly opened the letter now that I was alone.

 _My dearest Tori,_

 _You have no idea how happy you've made me. You're finally blossoming into a beautiful young woman and I'm so pleased._

 _Charming men is a bit different for those who are only half-Veela as you have less powers than those of full-Veela status. However you don't sprout feathers and talons upon becoming angry, so I think you get the better end of the stick even if you have slightly less powerful abilities._

 _Veela just need to dance softly to get a male's attention. You'll need to put in a little more effort but you still have a big advantage over the other girls. I am going to give you advice on the art of seduction._

 _Pick a day you can commit to your task. Show a little skin. You can pick either some chest area or some leg but never both – a lady will only ever show one or the other. Catch his eye when he is with his friends. He will be physically with them but his mind will be with you. Then you need to get him alone. Once you are alone he will be yours._

 _Don't overthink it. Do what comes naturally. It's in your biology. If you get nervous and overcomplicate it you won't be successful. Clear your mind and your powers will take over. I promise._

 _As for the one you are unsure about, my knowledge is limited darling. The only one who fell in love with me as a person and not my looks is the one I married for that reason – your father. Therefore I have no experience with unrequited feelings. All I can say is that if you have to second guess your feelings you most likely don't hold any romantic interest in this person. Maybe you've confused a high level of respect with puppy love?_

 _I'm not sure if I can write you the signs he shows he's interested as it really does differ between men, and without seeing them for myself I cannot comment. But I can give you three strong signs a man will show when he's NOT interested:_

 _1\. He openly shows affection for another woman in front of you. This extends to speaking fondly about another one, or ogles one in your presence. If a man seeks another woman whilst with you, it means he wants that other woman more._

 _2\. He doesn't take pride in his appearance or perception around you. If a man is interested in you he wants you to think the world of him. If he looks dishevelled or weak he clearly doesn't mind if you think the same._

 _3\. The most relevant in this context – a man most likely is not interested in you if you cannot tell. If he wants you, you'll definitely know about it._

 _Take those signs as you will. Study his behaviour and see if he fits into those categories or not. I would also see how you feel about whether he does or not – as you'll quickly get an idea on your true feelings for him._

 _Oh my darling daughter you have the world at your feet and today is the beginning of the rest of your life. I am so happy and excited for you._

 _Please let me know how everything pans out as I am dying to know. You will be in my thoughts._

 _All my love,_

 _Mum xo_

I smiled as I re-read the letter a few times as some plans started to form in my head. I would carefully execute separate plans for Professor Scamander and Tom Riddle. I spent the evening in bed thinking about it, before drifting off for an early night's sleep.

* * *

I had been nervous all day. Last night my mother's letter had given me lots of courage. So much so I decided to confront both Tom and Professor Scamander in the same day. I knew if I didn't do it on the same day and as soon as possible I would talk myself out of it and it would never happen.

This was evidenced by my nerves as I kept second guessing my decision to listen to my mother. In Herbology I accidentally used the wrong potting soil and angered my plant to the point it started breathing fire. In Defence Against the Dark Arts I had answered a question and said that the best defence against a werewolf was to dance around one. In Transfiguration not only had I not managed to turn a wooden chair into a bunch of flowers, I had set the chair on fire. Professor Dumbledore managed to put it out easily enough and was nice enough to not give me a lecture about the dangers of Transfiguration mishaps after.

"You really should take me up on that offer to help you with Transfiguration. Maybe sometime this weekend?" Tom asked me as I headed out of the classroom, grabbing my wrist to spin me around as he used a low voice.

"Maybe. We'll see what happens." I winked, gaining confidence for the first time today as I quickly strode out of the classroom, leaving Tom in awe.

After lunch I had double Care of the Magical Creatures with Professor Scamander. Sometimes the class was held out on the grounds (the 'practical' assignments) whilst some tasks were held in a classroom (the 'theory' tasks). Today we were out in the open field studying Doxys.

"Doxys may not be too dangerous, but they're very common and thus we'll be studying today. Does anybody know the alternative name for Doxys?" Professor Scamander asked the crowd out loud.

I knew the answer but I didn't want to bring attention to myself so I stayed quiet. However when Scamander looked around and asked 'anybody?' I found myself throwing up my hand before I could second guess my class participation attempt.

"Ah, Miss Black. What's the other name for Doxys?" Professor Scamander asked me, his face lighting up as he pointed in my direction.

"The biting fairy." I proudly stated out loud.

"That's correct. Well done. Five points to Slytherin." Professor Scamander smiled brightly towards me, and I smiled a little as a few people from my house gave me a pat on the back.

He then went on to explain a little more about the Doxys. The slight dangers they pose. The effects of their venom and the antidote. He spoke about their status as a pest and how to humanely get rid of them. He even spoke about the small details such as their diet and habitat and even how they lay eggs.

I watched around as everyone else were getting bored as he spent half the lesson lecturing about the Doxys. I on the other hand paid close attention for two reasons. I was furiously scribbling note about everything Professor Scamander was saying about Doxys, but also I was following my mother's advice and looking for clues in her letter. So far I could only really read into the third one, I wasn't sure if he liked me or not. Sometimes during his lecture he would catch my eye and smile, but other parts his eyes would gloss over me, as if avoiding me. It was definitely sending me mixed signals.

"Okay everyone," Professor Scamander declared as he clapped his hands to get everyone's attention "There's enough Doxys for one between two people, so you'll need to partner up."

I froze up a little. Those were my least favourite words I could hear in school. But now at least my dorm mates were talking to me. Drucilla would most likely partner with Beatrice, so I could partner up with Cordula. It would be okay this time.

"Well, it's too bad for Tori, but looks like we're all partnered up. She'll have to work alone." Drucilla cruelly stated, a snicker in her words.

I turned around and saw Drucilla clinging onto the arm of Lestrange, both of them grinning wickedly towards me. My eyes scanned across the field and I saw that it was true, everybody all seemed to be paired up. Beatrice shot me a sympathetic look as she stood next to Cordula, and all of the other Slytherin boys had paired up with each other.

I was planning on remaining silent and either hoping there would be a Doxy left over for me to study, or quietly becoming a third person with Beatrice and Cordula if I promised to do all of the work to sweeten the deal with them. However unfortunately for me, Professor Scamander made my plan impossible.

"Do we have any leftovers?" Professor Scamander asked up loudly. I awkwardly ran my hands through my hair as I felt very uncomfortable in this situation, but Drucilla spoke up powerfully.

"We of course we do have a leftover. Victoria Black, the biggest leftover of them all." Drucilla smirked, emphasising 'leftover' each time she said it.

My eyes shot back to Professor Scamander. It took a few seconds to register but I noticed he began to look crestfallen and mouthed an 'oh' – it finally dawned on him how poor of a choice using the word 'leftover' was.

"That's alright Tori. You can work with me." Professor Scamander smiled towards me. Whilst this made a lot of people in the class giggle towards me, I put on a happy expression. It was a little humiliating but it was nice that he attempted to make me feel better. I'd also be able to see if he fit into the three categories whilst we worked together.

Professor Scamander began to hand out the Doxy cages and told everybody to spread out, as there was a chance that the Doxys would fight each other if all kept within close proximity of each other. So all of the students walked out of sight and I had a feeling a lot of Doxys would stay in their cage and the students would use the time to socialise, especially as this was the last class on a Friday afternoon.

"So where should we go, Professor Scamander?" I asked him, crossing my arms as he picked up the remaining Doxy cage.

He looked around with a neutral expression, as if he were a young boy planning to do something naughty. When he noticed the coast was clear, he then spoke up.

"I feel so weird when you call me by such a formal name considering we're on friendly terms. I know it's against tradition and quite possibly school rules, but you can call me Newt when it's just us around, only if you want to though." Professor Scamander said to me, leaning a little closer and speaking a little quieter as if someone else were listening.

"You already call me Tori, so I have nothing else to offer you." I joked loudly.

Professor Scamander – or "Newt" as I was to now call him then got the Doxy out of the cage. We didn't converse much outside of communication about the Doxy as we observed his behaviour. I was the one who made the observations whilst Newt wrote them down. He said as I was the student I should be the one making the observations and thus be the one learning. He wrote down a good page full of notes before he got me to use the knockback jinx ('Flipendo') to stun the Doxy back into the cage. It was nearing the end of the lesson but no students were in sight, so he began to make conversation.

My mother's three rules entered my head. One, he shouldn't mention other women in front of me. Two, he should take care of his appearance. Three, I should have some idea by the end of this conversation. If I didn't, that would mean he held no attraction to me. That would be good, right? I could then focus solely on charming over Tom Riddle completely. Rather than waiting for the signs to come up in conversation I decided to kick start the process.

"What's that? There's something on your shirt." I pointed out, referring to a mark on his vest.

He looked down to what I was referring to, holding out his vest as he inspected the stain.

"Oh, yes. A little mishap with my forth year class before lunch. I don't even want to tell you what it is." Newt grinned.

I cocked my head and held myself back from asking what it was. I was curious about what on earth the thing on his shirt was that was so shocking he felt he couldn't tell me, but I didn't want to get distracted. I needed to figure out if he held any feelings for me.

"That's the convenience of a vest, I guess. You can just take it off should it get dirty." I commented, pretending to not sound too involved as I diverted my eyes elsewhere.

"I actually thought of taking it off before this class began, but I decided against it. A few mystery stains are nothing, certainly not worth a wardrobe change." Newt said to me.

I just nodded my head. One sign he doesn't like me: he's absolutely fine wearing dirty clothing in front of me, and made a conscious effort to stay that way, not caring that I'd see his stained clothing. According to my mother's theory that was one strike.

"My wife probably thinks differently though. She always convinced me to make myself look as presentable as possible, no matter how much exposure I had to creature fluids. I'm not sure whether it was annoying or caring." Newt spoke up, a shaky smile appearing over his face.

I scrunched up my face for a split second. Not only did he mention another woman in front of me, but he was still married? I knew he had a wife as she had a dedication in his textbook but I assumed they had separated. He was living in the castle and hadn't mentioned her to me at all. That didn't make sense when I thought about it. I was a student, why would he talk about his wife to me?

The bell rang out throughout the school and carried onto the grounds. School was over for the week. A few groans carried out nearby, as the fellow students realised that by not coming back earlier they now had to spend after school time getting the Doxys back into the cages and back into Newt's possession.

"Do you uh, need my help?" I asked him, standing around as I watched all of the students trudge back slowly, some looking a little worse for wear with torn clothing and bruises on their bodies. Drucilla even had a gash across her face. I felt terrible but for a split second I was happy, not that because she was hurt but she now had a big imperfection made very obvious on her face.

"No. I can take it from here. You go enjoy your weekend." Newt said to me.

"Thanks for the great lesson. I learned a lot." I thanked him brightly.

"You're very welcome, Tori. I guess I'll see you next Wednesday, if I don't see you around beforehand." Newt said, and I took this as my cue to go just as Drucilla whined loudly as she shoved her cage back into Newt's arms.

I made sure to walk slowly as she stalked back to the castle with Rangvald Lestrange angrily – I definitely didn't want to be around them if I didn't have to.

I was confused for a second. Newt and I had a few moments together this afternoon. He broke our student-teacher relationship by asking to call him by his first name and once again by calling me about his nickname. He also genuinely seemed to enjoy spending time with me and our goodbye was awkward, as if he didn't know how (or want to) say goodbye to me for the week. But then I realised that was point three. I was still confused on his intentions towards me.

He confirmed all three signs my mother said a guy showed if he wasn't interested. He spoke about his wife openly in front of me without flinching. He certainly didn't mind his appearance around me as he kept a dirty vest on. Lastly, his mixed signals made me confused. Mother said if a guy wanted you, you knew. Clearly this wasn't the case.

Mum was also right that the way I felt about it would be revealed once I figured out his intentions. Honestly, I felt relieved. I also felt great that I was able to execute my plan successfully. That was one thing less I had to do. I could also know focus on the Tom Riddle plan.

* * *

I sat in the common room at the oak table in the corner with a bunch of homework laid out in front of me. I was barely paying attention to my homework, instead it was being used as a prop. Tom Riddle was sitting in the common room with his gang on the couch next to the fire. He was attempting to converse with them but I kept noticing his eyes would lead back to me across the room.

I didn't blame him. I was acquainting myself with the art of seduction. I took my mother's advice and decided on showing some skin. She said to show either chest or leg – I went with leg. I rolled my school skirt up so it was knee length and had kept my legs crossed as I sat at the table. Every now and again I'd run my hands through my hair and brush the end of the quill against my cheek. I felt a little bit like a whore, and a few of the other girls had coughed it my way as they walked past, but I felt my insecurities melt away.

Before my mother's letter I would have been a mess trying to get his attention this way. I didn't know how to flirt. But now after reading it and sitting here, all my actions were coming to me naturally. I couldn't believe how easy it was. What's best was that it was working. Not only could Tom Riddle not keep his eyes off me, it seemed most boys in the common room couldn't either. Which added to the situation as I noticed Tom send furious looks to all who were looking at me.

As it grew later my attention to flirting began to subside and I began to actually focus on my homework as I had been seducing Tom for a few hours and he had yet to approach me. This is why I was caught off-guard when I felt a presence, looked up and saw Tom next to the table I was sitting at.

"Why don't you come sit with us? You might be more comfortable." Tom proposed.

I gave him a sultry look as I looked up from the table to the area he and his gang were seated at.

"Looks a little squished. It's not ladylike for me to be sprawled over you gentleman. I'll be fine here." I responded as I uncrossed my legs and quickly crossed them again, making sure my skirt crept up a tad more up my thigh.

I purposely watched Tom's line of sight. He watched my legs and I saw his eyes dart up my legs. I even heard him suppress a groan and I certainly suppressed a smirk at his actions. Mum's advice was working so well. I had enchanted him with such ease.

"Well, luckily it appears most people will be heading off to bed soon. Maybe I would be lucky to have your company when the common room clears out?" Tom asked me, even going as far as to pick up my hand that was laying idly on my school book, and he kissed it before gently laying it down again.

I had to stop my eyes from widening as I nearly broke from the seductive act I had put on. Not only did his lip to skin action send shivers up my spine and butterflies to my stomach, I had not anticipated that. The most he had done is touch my back. This was making his intentions very clear.

"S-sure." I stuttered as I sent him a small smile.

I pretended to not notice as he strode back to the couches near the fire. I noticed he spoke to his friends who jumped up from the couch and they all split up and began talking to other people who were still in the common room. Fairly quickly the common room began to empty until about ten minutes later when it was just Tom and I. He had managed to clear out the common room purely to get us alone.

"Tori, come take a seat now. There's clearly enough room for the both of us now." Tom called out to me.

I only sent him a cheeky smile as I packed up my homework into my book bag and plonked myself down onto the couch next to him, strategically slightly opening my legs enough to get to attempt to peek but not enough to show him any of the goods.

He cocked his head as I saw him eye my legs before he slowly began to raise his head as he looked all the way up my body until he arrived back towards my face. He put an arm around my shoulder and let out a loud sigh but said nothing else.

Then out of nowhere he began to kiss me. It was just a very light peck to begin with as he seemed to be studying my reaction. When he broke away and saw my eyes closed and lips still lightly parted in bliss he decided to keep going.

After a few moments his kisses began to change. He began to roughly put his hands all over my back and even became brave enough to run them through my hair, lightly pulling on my locks in the process. I gasped in surprise at his raw change but this only seemed to excite him more as he changed positions on the couch.

He had me pinned down under him on the couch as he hungrily came down for smooches. He was holding me down fairly roughly as he was using all of his body weight but it just added to the excitement of our activities.

A fire had been ignited in me tonight that had previously not existed. All my life I had been shy and self conscious about myself and my abilities. This was changing starting from now. I may not be a full Veela but I was a red blooded woman and I would be using the gifts my mother had given me from now on.

"Oh, gross. If you're going to engage in illicit activities could you please ensure no one else, especially me, is around to witness it." Drucilla Carrow screeched loudly from behind us.

Tom didn't seem to be phased but he moved and took his weight off me when he felt that I was trying to shift my position and get out from under him.

Drucilla only laughed at us cruelly as she went back down the stairs to our dorm. I knew she'd probably gossip to all of the girls about what a "whore" I was, but I didn't care. Not after what had just happened.

"Wow, look at the time. Perhaps it is best if I head off to bed." Tom said as he looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the common room and noticed the late hour.

I only sent him a nod as I wanted to hide my disappointment that he wanted to go to bed and didn't want to keep kissing me.

"I suppose I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't ask you on a date after that. Hogsmeade is still two weeks away, but Professor Slughorn is having a 'Slug Club' party tomorrow night. Say, why don't you come as my date." Tom asked me.

I was caught a little off guard and was incredibly flattered. I used the new fire burning inside to compose myself quickly and respond in the best possible way.

"I would love to escort you." I coyly smiled.

"Good. Because I would love to pick up from where we just left." Tom growled lowly to me, giving me one last rough kiss before he turned around and descended to the seventh year boy's dormitory.

When he had turned away and was out of both sight and earshot I let out a loud happy sigh as I fell back onto the couch. I felt a little superficial but I had just had my first kiss – with the handsome and popular Head Boy. Things were really going my way today.


	7. Chapter 7

**It's been a while, I know. I'm sorry. Hopefully I still have readers?!**

 **At least there's a bit of Newt action in this one - even if it's indirect ;)**

 **In response to the reviews (hopefully you guys are still reading?)**

 **Kavernista: I agree 100% with what you're saying - to a bloody T! I am 100% Team Newt, Tom is a jealous arsehole and her mum's an idiot that's giving bad advice (wink wink). It's definitely not over between Tori and Newt, in fact it's barely starting. This story is a juicy love triangle-kinda deal after all :)**

 **KirikaAndo: Yeah it was a bit of a challenge deciding whether to ignore canon and have Newt a younger age in the 1940s (instead of the 1920s) so I kind of just decided to be mostly vague about his age besides one line... I guess realistically it's up to the reader to decide if he's the same age as he was in Fantastic Beasts or if you really hate stories screwing with canon the reader can decide he's in his 40s haha but young looking - both Vicki (the grand daughter) and Tori have made comments saying he looks young for his age. I'm also gonna try and update more consistently again!**

* * *

The next day I found myself working in Herbology Greenhouse Four on an assignment that was due on Monday. As I had the Slug Club party tonight with Tom I thought it was a good idea to get it done this morning. I couldn't afford to get a bad mark on the assignment, I was already struggling with most of my subjects.

The greenhouse was completely empty except for me. Most other students had better things to do on a Saturday morning than outstanding Herbology homework. I was completely alone. The task was to take clippings of a plant I had been growing the last few weeks and see what colour the clippings turned to when water was applied – after the clippings had left the main body and source of life. The health of the plant would be determined by certain colours, and also how vivid and bright those colours were. I was after a bright yellow colour, and if I was able to get this colour today I would be able to be calm for the rest of the weekend. If not, I still had a couple of days to take better care of my plant and at least try and get a passing mark for the class, if not a good one.

I heard a few noises coming from greenhouse three and tried to ignore them as I carefully removed the dead leaves from my plant. Greenhouse three was the main greenhouse but was completely off limits to students outside of class without an accompanying approved staff member. This was fine by me, I preferred greenhouse four. It was quieter, no one was around and there were no vegetation in here that wanted to kill you. Much more peaceful.

I poured the solution onto the plant leaves in the container and waited for the colours to show up. Apparently it could take anywhere from forty three seconds to two hours. With nothing better to do, I sat upon the bench and closed my eyes as I absorbed all of the serenity. Unfortunately for me, the noises next door were too loud to ignore.

"Thank you once again for accompanying me, Newt. I heard there were some nasty pests scurrying about in here so I appreciate our resident magizoology expert helping me secure these oils for my party tonight. When they're heated up, they smell absolutely divine and release a heavenly odour that quickly fills up the entire room." I heard Professor Slughorn say from the connected greenhouse three.

"You're quite welcome, Horace. Although I must object to your use of the word 'pest' – every creature has its use in the world we live in." I heard Newt respond politely. Whilst his choice of words sounding controversial, his tone was completely shy, as if he were afraid of what Slughorn would respond with.

I almost giggled at his statement but held back as I knew I was eavesdropping and not part of the conversation. It was such a heart-warming thing for him to say, it sounded exactly like him.

"Yes well…" I heard Slughorn uncomfortably trail off before he piped up again "I never received your answer to the invitation I sent, were you intending on coming?"

"I suppose so, I don't have any other plans tonight." Newt said in a pleasant manner.

I gaped and lightly hit my head on the wall as I felt second hand embarrassment for Newt. Even though Slughorn was the head of house for Slytherin I never liked him too much. He paid too much attention on strong students that would bring lots of glory for themselves and everyone around them and not enough attention on struggling students who needed his help the most. I was a struggling student with no glory whatsoever. I was well and truly off his radar before I even had the chance to appear on it. However I knew that such a nonchalant statement about his parties would offend dear old Slughorn. His parties were meant to be a big deal for only the most exclusive people, Newt referring to it as a backup plan would not go down well.

"As you are a new staff member you can be forgiven for your lack of enthusiasm. I can assure you that after this party you will be begging to attend the next one. You get to spend intimate time with the top students of the school and connect with them a lot better than the slim opportunities during class time. You'll have a blast, I know you will." Professor Slughorn loudly stated.

I could hear in his voice that he wasn't offended at what Newt had said but had taken it with a grain of salt and had mistaken Newt's apathy for ignorance. Then again I couldn't see Newt's body language or facial expressions. For all I knew, he didn't share the same disdain as I did for the 'Slug Club' – he was probably too polite.

"I don't think you would have had the pleasure of meeting our Hogwarts Head Boy, Tom Riddle, would you? My, he's a fantastic student. In thirty years all of wizard kind will know his name, he's destined for great things that boy. I'll introduce you to him tonight," Slughorn mused, but then his voice grew quieter, I had to crack open a window slightly and carefully listen to what he had to say next "He personally came to see me this morning to confirm the partner he is bringing. He's never taken an escort to one of my parties before."

"Oh really? I take it the person who is accompanying him is a big shock to you?" Newt asked. I was a little shocked at Newt's question. It seemed highly out of character for him. Not only was he sometimes a little clueless when it came to reading people's reactions and social cues (therefore it was strange that he straight away picked up Slughorn attempting to lead into gossip) but it was highly irregular that he had decided to actively partake in gossip. I didn't know whether to be impressed at this sudden change of personality or disgusted he wanted to get involved.

I didn't know it was possible but I tried to listen even more intently than before. After all, I knew the conversation was turning to be about me.

"Well, yes and no. He told me he's bringing Victoria Black. She's a very beautiful girl and I can see his attraction to her, especially as a handsome boy himself. But I always envisioned him on being with someone on the same calibre as him academically. I thought he'd pick a girl he could be a real power couple with." Slughorn responded, disappointment very evident in his voice.

I sat there stunned for a few moments as I listened in. I couldn't see my reflection anywhere but I was sure that I had an angry look on my face, maybe something of disbelief. That was a really mean comment for him to make, he didn't think I was 'good enough' for Tom. I suddenly felt very insecure again about my blossoming relationship with Tom. Many students had been saying that they too didn't think that Tom and I were a good match. But here was inside intelligence that teachers were also saying the same things. It really stung. What on earth did Tom see in me, besides good looks?

Little did I know that Newt Scamander was about to come to my rescue, even if he didn't know it.

"I think that Tori….Victoria Black is a very bright student." Newt spoke up, and I realised that he referred to me by my nickname to begin with and quickly corrected himself by repeating my name. As I couldn't see Slughorn I couldn't see his reaction to this, but he didn't say anything about the use of my nickname.

"Newt. You're very talented in your field and you're a smart man, so I don't mean any ill feelings with what I'm about to say. I understand she does very well in your class. But there's a difference between real intelligence and a textbook knowledge of a subject. I think it's great she's doing well in Care of the Magical Creatures, but that's it. As your tenure at Hogwarts continues you'll learn to pick the gifted students from the not so bright, and you'll learn it's those students that are worth networking with both during their time here and afterwards. Students like Victoria Black will be forgotten very quickly, no matter how good looking they are." Slughorn stated to Newt, using an almost condescending tone and speaking to Newt as if he was a child.

"I think it's very noble that you aide students you consider gifted. That's how I feel about Victoria Black. I believe she's brilliant and I wish to assist her reach her full potential," Newt said respectfully, but then he must have grown a tad angry as the next part became heated "Quite frankly I think the Head Boy, Tom Riddle or whatever his name is, is the one lucky to have her."

Newt's outburst must have caught Slughorn off guard as silence fell between the two. I heard the sounds of clothes rustling and I assumed Slughorn must have straightened his clothes awkwardly to get ready to depart.

I figured I must have been correct when I heard Newt become his meek, shy self once he lost his initial nerve, based on Slughorn's silent actions of hostility.

"It will be great to meet new people, however. Thank you kindly for the invitation." Newt stated, and Slughorn seemed to go back to his cheery self.

"You're most welcome. I best be off now I have these oils, I need to give some instructions to the house elves as they prepare the food for tonight." Slughorn stated and I heard the door to greenhouse three squeak open and heavy footsteps lead away as Newt called out a feeble goodbye.

I immediately ducked down, away from the windows so Professor Slughorn nor Newt would be able to see me as they departed. Even though I had every right to be in this adjoining Greenhouse and they were speaking so loudly their voices carried over to the other greenhouses, I did technically eavesdrop and I didn't want either Professor Slughorn or Newt to know I had heard their entire conversation about me.

Newt stayed in there a little longer and I heard him talk affectionately to a few of the "pests" in there that by the sounds of it were feasting on some of the plants. It made me smile.

It also made me want to go into there and speak to him, and thank him for being one of the very few in this school who would stand up for me. But I knew it wasn't appropriate and I made sure I was still ducking down as I heard him finally leave, his footsteps much lighter than Slughorns' from slightly earlier.

It was only after the footstep sounds disappeared when I remembered why I was in the greenhouse in the first place, my assignment. I rushed over to the dish and saw my plant clippings soaked in water had turned from their deep green colour to a bright yellow. This was the intended colour and I grinned wildly as I started to pack up my belongings.

I could now enjoy myself at the party tonight and not have to worry about my Herbology assignment, I should get top marks based on these results.

Thinking about how I could now enjoy the rest of my weekend I began to pack up my books into my bag. Giving the tools a quick rinse with water from my wand, I sprayed myself in fright as I heard the greenhouse door open suddenly.

"Oh, hello." I coldly stated as I saw who had entered.

"Hello Miss Black," Andrew Hartwell grinned mischievously but then uncharacteristically changed his tone "Sorry, I thought it would be empty. I can go use greenhouse one or two to finish my Herbology work, if you really don't want me here."

"Not going to make a pass at me are you?" I asked him curiously, cocking up an eyebrow to try and pretend I was being neutral about his lack of flirting with me.

"We agreed once every three months, remember? But I'm happy to give away all of my freedom-to flirt-tickets, I'm giving up." Hartwell shrugged.

I scrunched my face up in confusion. Hartwell had been trying to win my affections for years, why was he suddenly giving up now? Surely this had to be one of his schemes? Maybe catch me off-guard?

"Don't look so confused. You've made it very clear we'll never end up together, and now you're with Riddle." Hartwell stated, in response to my visible confusion.

"I'm not 'with Riddle' actually. We're currently only in a courtship at the moment, thank you very much. How can you still be so annoying during a conversation where you're telling me you will no longer bother me? A conversation I've waited for years to hear!" I shrieked loudly, losing my patience with Hartwell very quickly as always.

"Courtship, whatever. Call it whatever you fancy. Because you have taken Riddle off the market, my stock has risen rapidly. The handsome Head Boy has gone, so the Gryffindor seventh year prefect is the next on every girl's list. I can now have the pick of any girl in the school, and I plan to take advantage of this fact, in fact I plan to pick a few." Hartwell grinned widely towards me.

I stuttered in complete rage. I was disgusted at his attitude towards women and I was also disgusted girls in this school fell for those stupid charms. It was unladylike to pursue a boy who was charming many other people as if it was acceptable behaviour, and if women could see this than Hartwell wouldn't be able to get away with it.

Finding myself incapable of firing off cohesive arguments to his statement due to my rising anger, the only thing I could bring myself to do was to pick on the only part of what he said that didn't make sense to me.

"What on earth are you on about? Your stock has risen? What does this mean? It actually does not make sense!" I loudly huffed, emphasising my confusion.

I expected Hartwell to fire up and bounce off my annoyance as he usually did. Instead his face softened and I noticed all of the fight left his body. He looked vulnerable, something I had never seen from this arrogant boy before.

"It's a muggle term. The stock market. It's a very complicated thing to explain to a witch or wizard that has been kept very separate from the muggle world all of their life. It basically just means my value has gone up. I don't have Riddle as competition anymore, get it?" Hartwell explained and for the first time I had known him it was just an explanation, no cocky motives behind it.

I was still however angry at his statement from before and as confusion fed my anger, I kept going.

"Why are you using muggle terms? You're from a long line of Gryffindors. You used to brag that your family history can be traced back to Godric Gryffindor himself." I snapped back at him.

His neutral expression dropped even further. He suddenly looked weak, which was a very strange sight from someone who seemed so confident all the time.

He sharply took a breath in, as if he were anticipating telling me something big. And that's exactly what he did.

"My older brother is a squib. He has chosen to live in the muggle world and denounce all right to magic knowledge. Therefore in respect to him I have learned all about muggle culture and customs." Hartwell explained, almost wincing by the end as he must have expected me to continue to lash out.

Instead the opposite happened. For the first time in my life I felt empathy for Hartwell. I invited him to sit next to me on the Herbology bench and talk about it with me. And so he did.

He told me about how his family always assumed Andrew's older brother William was a late bloomer and would start exhibiting signs of being a wizard and the ability to use magic after his admission into Hogwarts. The problem was that his letter never came. It strained his family as this was the same time Andrew started not being able to contain his magic, as most kids can't. He would get in trouble for something he couldn't control and fights would always break out – either someone would fight in Andrew's defence, or fight against him for being 'insensitive' to his brother.

His brother ended up being brave and accepting that he cruelly was born into a wonderful world but could not partake into it. William Hartwell apparently got his parents to send him to a muggle boarding school so he could still enjoy a normal teen experience and still go away for school. "Magic or not he's a true Gryffindor." Andrew explained to me.

I was surprised at how much depth there really was to Andrew Hartwell. He was always just an annoying and arrogant boy who enjoyed toying with me. But under all that cocky behaviour there was someone genuine, whose company I enjoyed.

I felt I owed Andrew a story about a personal struggle after his explanation about his family. I didn't feel comfortable revealing the politics of the Black family and how I would truly never fit in due to my half-Veela status. Instead I decided to launch into my most recent woe: Slughorn himself loudly exclaiming to Newt that I was not good enough for Tom. I even mentioned about how Newt (of course referring to him as 'Professor Scamander' to Andrew) stood up for me.

It ended up being really nice talking to him about it. I realised he was the only person I could really discuss it with. Most people in Slytherin would find it amusing Slughorn said terrible things about me and would be in agreeance with him. It's not like I had any other friends in other houses to speak about it with either.

He didn't have too much to say about what Slughorn had said. Besides lending a sympathetic ear he did state that Slughorn seemed to be short-sighted about successful students and that I shouldn't let it worry me, especially if I was interested in Herbology or Magizoology after school finished – these weren't Slughorn's fields so how was he to know if I would succeed or not? He had a very good point and it made me feel a lot better.

"I'll be at that party tonight, Slughorn invites me to them all, but I only go every now and again. I'd save you a dance but hey, I can't look attached in front of the other girls." Andrew jokingly winked towards me.

Unlike before I was not annoyed one bit by this statement, in fact I found myself giggling. In a couple of hours Andrew Hartwell had gone from one of my most hated people to one of my favourites. It would be nice to have an ally in another house, rather than another enemy.


	8. Chapter 8

**I was going to hold this chapter back and post this chapter as well as the next one at the same time as I wanted to clear up something this chapter is building upon, but as this chapter builds up a lot of suspense (as will the next one) I wanted to get it out ASAP.**

 **This is also a nice long one so it felt right to just come out and post it.**

 **In response to the reviews:**

 **KirikaAndo - Thanks so much for the well wishes! Hope you're having a very good year so far :)**

 **Kavernista - Missed you too! Sluggy is super mean, especially in this chapter but there's more annoying Slug to come! I'm actually super interested to hear your thoughts on the new rival in this chapter too :P**

 **AnadoraBlack - I seriously love that you used to punch boys like Tom Riddle during secondary school. That is seriously hilarious hahaha. I bet they deserved it too. Boys like that made me nervous and shy in my teens, but in my 20s I love putting them in their place with well thought out arguments, it's great.**

 **Guest - Thanks for the review and for the kind words. I'm so glad to have you on board :)**

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The plan that night was to meet Tom in the Slytherin common room at seven o' clock and we would head off together to Slughorn's office, where the party was being held. That way we would be fashionably late – the party started at seven on the dot so wandering up to the sixth floor would give us enough time to get there after the festivities started.

After spending a few hours with Andrew discussing many topics that entered our heads we departed from one another – I wanted substantial time to get ready for tonight, whilst Andrew still had to do his Herbology assignment and also get ready for the party tonight. He said he had a partner to the event but refused to tell me who it was, he said I'd have to wait and see.

When I got back to the Slytherin dungeons I was hoping I'd have the dormitory by myself to get ready, but unfortunately Beatrice was lying on her bed, drafting a letter to a boy from Durmstrang she was apparently hoping to get married to next year after school finished.

This ended up turning into a blessing in disguise for me. I casually mentioned how I was escorting Tom to the Slug Club party and she insisted on helping me get ready for it, which I was grateful for. I had picked up a few pointers from my mother on how to appropriately prepare for formal events – especially as we had plenty of Black weddings each year to attend.

But it was nice for someone the same age as me to give me beauty tips – I had never really had any close female friends to gussy myself up with so I knew little about teen fashion and makeup. Beatrice being one of the popular girls had a great sense of style. She helped me with choosing appropriate dress robes – a navy coloured dress with short sleeves, a collar, fitted around the bust and waist but then flowing out at the bottom in an A-line shape.

She used magic to do my hair – heating up her wand and using it to make tight curls – she mentioned it imitated a trick muggles apparently use rags for but the heat speeds up the process. She also powered my face, reddened my cheeks and curled my eyelashes.

After she was done she held a wide grin and pushed me in front of a mirror she had on her wall.

"Well you're half-Veela so there was no way I'd be able to make you anything short of spectacular, but I believe I've accentuated your fair features, you look really pretty." Beatrice smiled towards me.

I looked in the mirror and sent her a fake smile. I was very grateful for her help and didn't want to offend her, but to me I felt I looked almost the same as I did every other day. I still enjoyed our time bonding as she helped me get ready and I thanked her enthusiastically as I bounded out of our dormitory and up the stairs which led up to the common room.

Beatrice followed after me, saying she wanted to see Tom's reaction to how I looked. We passed Cordula on the staircase who paid me a very nice compliment on her way down to the dormitory. It made me feel very satisfied that the girls I had to spend lots of time around were finally treating me with a bit of respect.

This warm feeling was short lived as I first step foot in the common room it vanished completely. Drucilla who was previously reading a book by the fire looked up just as I entered and couldn't help herself as she stalked over. She made sure to obtain Rangvald Lestrange's attention as she made her way over.

I may not be the brightest witch but I could tell something seemed off by his reaction. Usually he would sneer and look in glee every time he anticipated something would be giving me a hard time. But today he only looked over feebly as Drucilla stormed towards me.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Drucilla spat towards me.

I looked around and noticed the entire common room had their eyes on Drucilla and I. Beatrice had backed off, obviously not wanting to get involved in the conflict. Nobody else approached, but everyone seemed to watch on intently.

I stayed silent but held an intense gaze towards her. I chose not to speak up until I found out what she was playing at.

"You scrub up well, for a filthy half-blood." She spat towards me.

I sighed loudly and crossed my arms, ready to argue with her. I was normally meek and shy after years of being tormented by most of the Slytherin house for having a Veela for a mother. But after the relentless harassment over the past few weeks from Drucilla I was growing very tired of her same baseless insults.

"Thank you. If the only things you have to say are nasty words about my heritage you can save your time. If you finally have a new or exciting insult then I'd be happy to respond." I sighed, over dramatizing boredom by giving a faux yawn.

Drucilla gaped towards me as she clearly was not expecting me to retort. Usually I attempted to ignore her, but tonight not only had I stepped up to the challenge, my statement was a hard one. All of her stored insults were now useless to her and she'd quickly have to think of something else, otherwise she'd have to step down.

A few moments passed and she was unable to say anything. If she said anything now it would be too late, so I watched as she eyed Rangvald Lestrange helplessly, hoping he would jump to her defence. Usually he loved to dive in at any opportunity to insult me, and unfortunately for me he was quick witted and could always find something condescending to spit my way.

My instincts of something seeming a bit off was correct, as he stayed quiet and ignored Drucilla, not looking her in the eye as she attempted to call him over. Even when she stormed over and grabbed his arm in a desperate attempt to force him over, he shoved her away and exited the common room, muttering something about going to the library to study. Drucilla let out a loud un-ladylike screech, making every single person in the common room scowl at her ear piercing loud noise and she stormed down to the dormitories.

Every pair of eyes in the common room turned to me, and I stood there awkwardly. I wasn't used to being the centre of attention – it seemed strange, to be considered so 'good looking' but also so much of an outsider that people actively went out of their way to avoid me. That was my life at school due to my mother's heritage, so I didn't know how to react when for once I was the spectacle.

Even though I knew everyone's eyes were on me, I still felt I should turn around, as if someone I should pay attention to was watching from behind. I spun around and found this was correct. Tom was leaning against the doorway to the stairs that lead down to the boy's dorms watching me intently. His gaze gave me intense butterflies. I definitely enjoyed his handsome face staring into mine, and I could see protectiveness in his look. No one aside from my family had cared for me so much before, it was a nice feeling.

He didn't say anything but lightly grabbed my hand and lead me through the common room and out the door. On our way out a few of the boys let out some cat calls, but grew silent when Tom sent them a murderous gaze.

He only spoke to me once we had taken a few paces out into the dungeons and we were well away from the Slytherin common room.

"I'm sorry to lead you away from everyone, but I wanted to share this intimate moment with you, and you alone. You always look stunning but tonight you've really taken my breath away." Tom stated, lightly spinning me around so he was facing me.

I stayed silent but looked deep into his eyes. Even at this distance he was incredibly hard to read but I was pretty sure he was being completely sincere, his full attention was on watching me silently.

"T-thank you." I stuttered beginning to feel a bit nervous under his forceful gaze.

Out of nowhere he pushed me against the dungeon wall. He stayed quiet for a few moments as he continued to stare into my face. I sent him an inquisitive look as I was not sure where he was going with this. With no warning he grabbed my face with his hand and placed his lips onto mine. It started as a sweet kiss but it quickly developed into something more. He began to attack my lips hungrily, even starting to bite my lower lip passionately.

It took me a few seconds to react but I melted into the kiss and kissed him back. We were affectionate like this for a while, but an awkward cough broke us up and we parted to see Andrew Hartwell standing there looking almost a little crabby.

"Before you say a snide remark Riddle, I also wish I wasn't here either. Slughorn sent me to find you, I think your presence is missed." Andrew coolly spoke up, getting in before Tom could insult him.

"Why did he send you? Doesn't it make sense for him to send a Slytherin in case we were actually inside the common room?" I asked him as we began to slowly start making our way to Slughorn's office.

Upon speaking to Andrew I could feel Tom grab my hand protectively. I shot him an inquisitive look and he tightened his grip even more forcefully. I tried to wiggle my hand away but he held on too tightly and I was unable to get out. I decided to not say anything right now, but make sure to bring it up later on, perhaps when we were alone.

"No, it doesn't make sense. Unless Slughorn wanted to send the Gryffindor prefect purely to annoy you guys, it's stupid." Andrew agreed, but his eyes went wide as he looked at my crestfallen face. He must have let that slip without thinking and then remembered the conversation we had earlier today where I was telling him Slughorn was telling other teachers – my favourite teacher, that I wasn't good enough for Tom.

It stung for a second as the painful but fresh memory crossed my mind. But I immediately grounded myself as I occupied my mind with other thoughts. I currently had Tom holding my hand and guiding me towards the party. I also found it amusing that Hartwell, a boy who showed the true stereotypical Gryffindor arrogance and cocky nature was now someone who felt bad for possibly offending me.

These two things made me smile through the rest of the awkward stroll to Slughorn's office where the party was being held.

As soon as we arrived at the party Andrew quickly departed from Tom and I without even uttering a word. He did however shoot a wink our way before striding over to a girl who was currently engrossed into conversation with Newt.

Mary Figglestill was the complete opposite of me. Whilst I had fair Veela features inherited from my mother, Mary was a dark haired beauty. Fashionable dark hair and beautiful big brown eyes – her skin also held a lot more colour than my pale complexion. My looks were something I had never been too insecure about, but Mary certainly gave me a run for my money. She was also my opposite in academic success – she abandoned the 'hands on' subjects I thrived in and instead was excelling in the difficult subjects such as Arithmancy, Transfiguration and Potions. A clever Ravenclaw student, she was the obvious choice for Head Girl this year.

Mary was disliked by the Slytherin students as she was a muggle born. As much as I was given a hard time by them for having a Veela by a mother, at least it was determined I was part of the magic community. If it were up to other members of my house, the likes of Mary Figglestill would be chased out of Hogwarts, exiled from the magic community forever. I had never had any run-ins with Mary, in fact we would sometimes shoot each other smiles when we passed in the corridor, even though we had never really conversed properly. I wish it was an arrangement where we disliked each other, it would make it so much easier right now when I found myself shooting her a filthy look towards the back of her perfectly curled head.

I always found Mary Figglestill warm and welcoming, but right now I hated her. I hated how graceful she looked as she spoke to Newt. I hated the way she managed to get him to hold onto every word she was saying and how he seemed to light up when she said something funny. Newt looked like he was genuinely enjoying her company on an immense scale, I couldn't tell whether she was flirting or just being a charming student but either way it unleashed ugly, jealous feelings inside me, something I had never felt on such calibre before.

As if he could sense my growing hatred I was glowering into their general direction I noticed Newt look up from Mary and look into my direction for the first time. Before I could read his expression properly let alone retaliate Tom had grabbed my attention again by grabbing my face and forcing me to look into his deep brown eyes.

"It would be improper to kiss you right now, but it's going to be so hard to restrain myself." Tom growled, moving his hands from my face slowly down my body, before he rested one hand on my back protectively.

I wanted to bring up a few things. I wanted to ask Tom about what his intentions were when he held onto my wrist tightly before but mostly I wanted to know what we 'were' – was he courting me for the intention of building a relationship with me or was this just a small fling to him?

"Oh, look who it is. It's so good to see you, Black. Say, how's your cousin Walburga going? I always really liked her, she was so skilled at potions." Slughorn greeted.

The fact he had barely greeted me (and not by name but surname) before immediately asking about my family was not lost on me, especially as he had never taken an interest in me before but was keen to hear all about Walburga. Walburga was the daughter of my Uncle Pollux – my father's brother. Walburga was a year older than me and had graduated last year. She absolutely despised me – unlike Drucilla however she completely ignored my existence rather than found ways to insult me.

It was tempting to air the dirty laundry in front of Slughorn in terms of how revolting my family were really like, but I held myself back. It wasn't appropriate conversation, especially considering tonight I was supposed to be proving to the world that I was worthy of Tom's affections, and childish family dramas were off the table.

"She's doing fairly well. She's met a man and I think she's starting to learn domestic spells from our grandmother to prove to him she would make a good wife." I stated, trying to say it as neutrally as possible, purposely omitting that it was our other cousin Orion she was wanting to marry.

"That's a shame. She was such a good potion maker, I was hoping she would continue down that path. Homemaking is a good choice for a young woman such as yourself, but definitely not Walburga Black." Slughorn stated loudly, not realising how insulting his words were towards me.

Although to his credit, Slughorn did not know of my insecurities. It was quite the compliment to be thought of as a woman who would make a good wife, considering this is the role women played in society. However I had always wanted more in life and envied girls like Mary Figglestill who seemed to have it all, and I can't believe I'm admitting this but even my dear cousin Walburga Black, who seemed to have some sort of academic success, enough to earn Slughorn's respect.

In my silence (as well as Tom's who's face I couldn't stand to look up at in shame) Slughorn continued on, emphasising his point and driving the nail in further.

"I mean just take a look at you, you're stunningly beautiful. Whoever lands you as their wife will be a lucky man, you'll work wonders on his career together. Walburga, and I mean not to speak ill about your cousin, but she's not a looker like you. Her potion making could benefit society more so than being someone's wife. I'm not saying she shouldn't marry, but marriage should come after a career." Slughorn explained.

Once again I could tell this was meant to be a compliment to both my cousin and I and through Slughorn's innocent look there was no malice in his tone or body language whatsoever. His words were a spoken reminder that I was cursed with good looks and no substance and this is how society viewed me. It hit me to the core and hurt me deeply, but I had to save face. Getting angry or upset visibly would do me no favours, and I had Tom Riddle next to me, the one I wanted to impress the most.

"I mean no disrespect sir, but I understand you haven't had an opportunity to really get to know Victoria. She is perhaps the most beautiful girl I have ever laid on, yes. But I see a lot of importance in her, and if you got to know her I know you would too." Tom stated to Slughorn, disagreeing with his opinion of me but using a very civil and polite tone.

I could have melted there and there. Without me even speaking up about my insecurities he came to my rescue and spoke his mind, defending me against Slughorn's perceptions. He was also slightly caressing my back, extending his gentle touches to my arm. The physical contact and his protective yet charming words about my character were unleashing feelings in me, strong emotions I had never felt before. Tom was always the leader in physical advances but right now I was craving his rough touches on my bare skin, and his lips locked with mine. I was desperate to have his hands run through my hair, I would even sacrifice Beatrice's hard work on my hairstyle if it meant Tom was the one ruining my hair. I wanted to be alone with him right now but I knew that wasn't possible at this moment.

"Well, perhaps you're right. The Blacks seem to be full of very extraordinary people, Victoria's father included. How is the rest of your family going? In fact, I'd like to know about your cousin Cedrella Black, it feels like she's fallen off the face of the planet. She's the only one of my former Slug Club members who no longer writes to me." Slughorn asked me curiously.

I didn't know whether to cringe or smirk. I wanted to avoid mentioning any family dramas with Slughorn, but he had now dug deep enough that it was now impossible to not mention one of the major Black political dramas.

"She uh…. She's not a Black anymore. She married into err… an opposing family of the Blacks so we don't really hear from her anymore. According to the grapevine she's now pregnant with their first child, but that's all I know." I stated, trying to remain cordial and hoping Slughorn would drop the subject.

The very worst crime a member of the Black family could commit was to mix the bloodline with dirty blood – a muggle, muggle born or blood traitor. Cedrella's husband's family came from a long line of what our family referred to as 'blood traitors'. It was frowned upon that my father mixed his bloodline with one of non-human status but it was not considered a pureblood crime. At the end of the day Veelas didn't touch anything non-magic which earned a little respect, and they were pure magic themselves. Even my father, who knew about the tongues that went wagging when he picked my mother for a wife, would poke fun at the talk. 'My wife might have a non-human status but she's better than a mudblood, much better looking than those foul mutt breeds too.' he would always brag at the dinner table at family gatherings, and be met with roaring laughter.

Therefore although it appeared to Slughorn when I said Cedrella was no longer a Black I meant she was no longer a Black due to marriage and changing her surname, I really meant that she had been disowned by the entire family. It was a big shame because Cedrella was one of my nicer cousins growing up. Some would insult me whilst others would pretend I didn't exist. Cedrella – who was seven years older than me had taken me under her wing and always helped me growing up. Her final year at Hogwarts was my first year and she sat with me at every meal to make sure I was going along just fine. I had wanted to write to her for a while to see how she was, but I knew my father would lose his mind if he knew I was still in contact with her – and my father was one of the 'nicer' Blacks.

"Oh? What family did she marry into?" Slughorn asked curiously.

I sighed as I looked towards Tom hoping his attention would be diverted elsewhere for once. Unfortunately for me he was listening intently and I could tell he was very interested in hearing about the Black family, including this drama.

"The Weasley family. She married Septimus Weasley and became a Weasley." I curtly responded.

Slughorn only let an 'oh' as I noticed he called over two specific people. He had clearly lost interest now that I had revealed the non-powerful family that my cousin had married into. I was glad he had stopped interrogating me about my family and had dropped making comments that made me feel inadequate but I wasn't too keen on the company he had invited.

Andrew Hartwell and Mary Figglestill came over once beckoned by Slughorn, Andrew had his arm slung casually around Mary's shoulder. Andrew winked towards me and I realised Mary must have been his mystery date he made a big deal about earlier today. I sent him a smile in retaliation. Mary sent me one of the warm smiles she would make when we locked eyes but for the first time I did not smile back. Although I had always been jealous of her exotic beauty and academic success, I now had a new reason to be jealous. I had witnessed her have my favourite teacher wrapped around her finger and I did not like it one bit.

"Hello once again, Hartwell. I can see you've escorted the lovely Miss Figglestill to the party. I guess if you lost out on the position of Head Boy, having the Head Girl on your arm is the next best thing?" Tom cruelly stated, a small smirk on his face.

"Say what you want, Tom. I'm pretty happy with my date and my position at this school. I'd much rather be the Gryffindor Quiddich captain than boring old Head Boy." Andrew shrugged, not taking Tom's bait.

Tom went to speak up but Slughorn spoke up, breaking up the possible confrontation.

"Andrew, can you do me a small favour? It's time for my traditional Head Boy and Head Girl dance which I always organise at the first party each year. Can you please go tell the musicians to play something soft and romantic-like?" Slughorn asked Andrew.

I panicked a little, and looked towards Tom who had a frown on his face. The thought of Magnificent Mary having both my date and my favourite teacher mesmerised was unsettling, but I was more worried about being left alone in a party where I didn't know anyone. I had also seen Rangvald Lestrange and another one of Tom's friends Avery walk in not too long ago, and I was scared of what they may be up to.

"Of course, sir. Say, Tori. Wait there, why don't we have a little dance when I come back?" Andrew asked me grinning and bounded off before I could respond, and I saw him shoot Tom a look of satisfaction upon his departure.

Tom let out a low growl but dropped his hand from my back. As annoyed as he was with Andrew's proposal, I knew he would never speak up against a teacher. Slughorn had backed Andrew's idea, which meant that Tom was restricted in arguing against it.

"I think that's a fantastic idea. Victoria you wait here and Andrew will come join you soon. Tom, Mary, if you make your way to the middle of the dance floor. Your song will be starting soon." Slughorn stated, putting an arm around both Tom and Mary as he ushered them to the space that had been designated for dancing.

I stood there awkwardly, grabbing one arm with the other and looked at my feet. Surely Andrew wouldn't be too long, we would stick together until Mary and Tom stopped dancing and then companion swap would be over and I would go back to Tom. This way there would be limited time I would be at this party alone. I never thought I'd see the day I desperately wanted Andrew Hartwell's company, but this school year was shaping up to be very strange.

I heard the soft romantic music start up and I flicked my sights onto the dancefloor. Most people had left the dance floor to give Tom and Mary space to dance. With a clear view of the two the same jealousy I felt before began to rise in me. It pained me to watch the two, just the same it pained me to see Mary with Newt.

Tom had his hands placed upon Mary's waist, the same hands that would hold me protectively, or touch me roughly when he was feeling passionate. Mary had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, a place where only my arms belonged. Perhaps worst of all was how close they were to each other. Their faces were inches apart and I saw them both looking into each other's faces. Mary had a small smile on her face and as I didn't know her well enough I couldn't read her intentions. Was it a polite friendly smile, or was she ecstatic that she was in the arms of the most handsome boy in school? Even more annoyingly I couldn't read Tom's formidable expression. He looked almost neutral as he looked into Mary's face. I was hoping he would perhaps look my way a few times, or even just look unhappy. But instead he had a blank face I was unable to read.

I tore my eyes away from the couple and backed away slowly. I felt both anger and devastation course through me at the same time. Tom and Newt were the two people who were making this school year enjoyable but Mary seemed to have stolen both from me, and I couldn't handle this.

I looked around trying to find Andrew so I could say goodbye and have him relay the message that I wasn't feeling well, so I could promptly leave. Instead I found myself face to face with Newt Scamander, who was smiling widely.

"Tori! There you are. I've been trying to find you all night. Would you care for a dance?" Newt asked me politely, a gigantic smile on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors note is at the bottom this time. You're all gonna hate me for the cliffhanger in the last subject and the release of this chapter.**

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 **Present Day**

"What the hell? That's so messed up!" Victoria "Vicki" Hartwell yelled loudly as she threw her grandmother's diary across the room.

Vicki had been reading her grandmother's diary for the majority of the previous night and had picked it up again in the morning to continue the story. It was an interesting read and she was devouring the words on the pages and sinking her teeth into the story her grandmother had to tell.

She took comfort in her grandmother's insecurities. Her grandmother was quite different to her – in fact Vicki related more to the new rival that had just been introduced in the journal – Mary Figglestill. Vicki like Mary was a dark haired Ravenclaw who had been made Head Girl for the upcoming school year, and like Mary, Vicki excelled in difficult academic subjects and was well known for being intelligent. The only obvious thing that Vicki felt she shared with her grandmother were blue eyes and pale skin.

But she felt her grandmother's insecurities, especially in the last chapter of the story. In the previous school year Vicki had lost the love of her life to a beautiful and exotic foe, Fleur Delacour, who made Roger Davies forget all about little Vicky. The irony was that her grandmother seemed to think having Veela blood was not enough and that Riddle's eyes would wander onto the more esteemed Mary Figglestill. In Vicki's case it was the complete opposite, Roger left her because Fleur was more closely related to a Veela and had more of their fair features.

Not that Vicki dwelled on it anymore, in all honesty she and Fleur had patched things up at the end of the previous school year – it was Vicki who had pushed Bill and Fleur together. Fleur had done her a tremendous favour in forcing Roger out of the way so Vicki could pay attention to poor Fred Weasley who had fallen head over heels for her, so Vicki returned the favour when she noticed Fleur eyeing Bill before the third task.

It was because of her boyfriend, Fred Weasley that Vicki was now in disbelief. Cedrella Weasley (nee Black) was the first cousin of Victoria "Tori" Hartwell (nee Black). Fred Weasley was the grandson of Cedrella Weasley. Victoria "Vicki" Hartwell was the granddaughter of Tori Hartwell. Vicki worked out that meant that she and Fred were third cousins, or second cousins once removed, or some other distant form of being related.

It didn't matter to Vicki. No matter how the word 'cousin' was relevant, she was apparently related to the boy she was in love with, and it was making her dry retch. She already knew they were both distantly related to the House of Black but she always silently assumed it was so distant any form of relation was long gone. The fact their grandparents were cousins did not settle well with her.

Vicki wanted to keep reading and was attempting to as she was desperate to know the rest of the story. Would anything happen between Riddle and Figglestill? What was going on with Newt Scamander – would Tori accept his dance? Surely her great grand-mother's (Tori's mother) advice was poor advice – she was convinced that Newt held feelings for her grandmother but then Vicki remembered she had a glimpse of what happens at the end based on when she met Newt and he reluctantly handed the diary over – he held strong feelings for Tori. Vicki figured Tori held feelings for Newt as well, why would she get so protective and jealous over a simple conversation she witnessed he had with Figglestill.

But she had the put the diary down to get answers. None of that mattered at the moment, she had to get answers.

She flew out the door and into the kitchen where her mother was eating a quick breakfast before work – her mother worked as a medical receptionist and as it was nearly eight in the morning she would be leaving the house soon.

"What do you know about Dad's family?" Vicki barked at her mother, not wanting to waste any time by coming up with a cover story on why she was curious about her father's heritage.

Maureen Smith (previously Hartwell before the divorce) blinked in confusion, but answered her daughter's question without asking why.

"Not too much, as an orphan there wasn't too much available to Max about his parents. You know he was raised by your Great Uncle William…" Maureen began.

"The squib." Vicki said out loud. It had never been hidden from her that her grandparents died when her father was very young, or that her father's uncle William (who was a squib) had raised him. This is why Max had insisted that Vicki be raised in the muggle world – he had been raised in the muggle world himself and knew how handy it was to have real knowledge of both the magic and non-magic community.

But now it was difference. She was slowly unravelling her grandmother's story and putting the pieces together – working out what puzzle pieces were relevant to her own life. It was a strange feeling, although the story she was reading was completely new to her, it was a story she knew very well, and knew how it would end. An uncomfortable feeling ran through her as she realised they weren't characters in a book but real relatives, and it distracted her for a moment until she remembered her current dilemma. Her boyfriend was her cousin.

"Yes." Maureen curtly responded, not too impressed that her daughter's curiousity about her paternal heritage had come just as she needed to get to work.

"I want to know about the Blacks though. Is there any chance that his mother – my namesake – Victoria. Was she perhaps adopted? Maybe her father was adopted, or maybe her Veela mother had a lovechild with another man? Is there any chance that girl was not a Black – and therefore I'm in no way related to the House of Black?" Vicki asked.

Maureen let out a loud chuckle, amused by her daughter's questioning.

"Unfortunately you are related. I can understand why you wouldn't want to be related to that bunch of inbred hatred-filled filth. When Sirius Black was first at large your father went and got a magic-form of DNA testing done, I think it's called heritage examining. He was hoping there would be no heritage links between Sirius and himself to not jeopardise his career with the ministry. He was out of luck however, the test came back that he was clearly Sirius' second cousin – Victoria and Sirius' mother were cousins and it was confirmed by blood." Maureen explained to her daughter sympathetically.

"Great. Inbred filth, that's what I clearly am." Vicki moped, sitting down in her chair heavily.

"Aww, honey. You are nothing like the Blacks, your father and I have made sure to raise you correctly." Maureen said losing interest as she got up from the table and made her way to the sink to wash her plate.

"Well I'm on the right path. If I'm definitely related to the Black family that means Fred is my third cousin by blood, so yes, I am on my way to creating inbred filth." Vicki whined loudly.

Maureen swore loudly in shock at her daughter's dilemma and dropped the plate she was cleaning with her hands – after finding love with a muggle man (Vicki's ex-primary school teacher) she found herself automatically doing things without magic that most witches or wizards would pick up their wand for without hesitation – even though her muggle partner Alfred knew about her magic.

Vicki on the other hand had only turned seventeen a few months ago and was still excited that she was now allowed to use magic outside of school. She automatically pulled her wand out of her pink pyjama pants and lazily mumbled 'Reparo' to fix the broken plate, and then 'Wingardium Leviosa' to levitate the now repaired plate into the dish rack so it could continue to dry.

"Well um, it wouldn't be the end of the world if you were related, right? The magic community are a dying breed, anyone with history relating to an old wizarding family are related. I wouldn't be surprised if two out of every three witches or wizards could trace their family history back to the Blacks." Maureen said to her daughter, trying to reassure her.

Instead it made Vicki more hysterical, who groaned loudly and buried her face into her arms onto the kitchen table.

"Sorry Vicki. Usually your teenage silly little dramas make me laugh, roll my eyes and mutter that you're making things too complicated, but this is quite the pickle. I'll leave you to it." Maureen said to her daughter, half mockingly half sympathetically, giving her daughter a kiss on the head as she apparated away quickly.

Vicki dragged herself into a quick shower and found herself pulling on the first skirt and shirt she could find, applying minimal makeup in a very quick patchy job before apparating quickly to the only place she could find answers.

Arriving in the middle of 12 Grimmauld Place, it only took moments for her to be tackled in a gigantic hug by her boyfriend….or cousin?

"Hey cutie." Fred greeted her, his hair tousled and eyes still puffy, it was evident he had only just gotten up as he had a toothbrush in his hand, minty fresh breath and was still clad in his pyjamas.

"Hey!" Vicki said in a faux enthusiastic manner, untangling herself from her boyfriend's hug from behind. Usually she would melt into such a hug and would be lip locked in a very big public display of affection with him.

But not today. Luckily Vicki was clever and a quick thinker, so she would be able to quickly occupy Fred as she searched for answers and not make him realise how distant she was attempting to be.

"Why are you here so early? I was going to use the public telephone down the road and phone you to make plans for today. We're going back to school fairly soon, I was hoping for a one on one day with you. I was also wanting to know what Dumbledore wanted with you, if you were comfortable in telling me of course." Fred said to her innocently.

Vicki sighed and touched his face with her right hand, wanting to give some sort of affection to her boyfriend. The poor boy was in the complete dark about the possible dilemma that would tear them apart. Vicki almost envied his blissful ignorance until she remembered they were most likely cousins, and jumped away before speaking up.

"I left something in your room the other day. You know that bracelet you sent me for my birthday back in March? Yeah, I took that off the other day when we got a bit hot and heavy on your bed. You know how much that bracelet means to me, could you possibly go and try to find it?" Vicki asked Fred innocently, burying her hand into her pocket and taking the bracelet off with one hand, only removing her hand once the bracelet was off and secure in her skirt pocket.

"Say no more, your wish is my command." Fred joked, giving his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips before he turned around and made his way back to his makeshift room he was sharing with George.

Due to the Weasleys being one of the driving forces behind the revival of the Order of the Phoenix, it was unsafe for their safety for them to return to the Burrow this summer. Therefore they had taken up residence at the former Black ancestral home. Vicki was sat down at the start of summer alongside all the Weasley children (bar Ron, who seemed to already know) and was informed by Dumbledore about the truth about Sirius Black. He never murdered all of those people nor gave away James and Lily Potter's secrets to Voldemort. He was wrongly convicted and wanted to live a peaceful life in hiding.

The Weasleys insisted that Vicki also spend her entire summer at 12 Grimmauld Place, but Vicki turned them down – much to Molly's dismay, who absolutely adored the girl. Vicki felt she was safe enough at her parents' place and wanted to enjoy her last summer as a student. She also had lots of muggle friends from her time at primary school and couldn't bear to be cooped up in 12 Grimmauld Place the entire summer, being cut off from the world.

She still stopped in nearly every day to see everyone and help clean the place up and do her fair share of work. She also had met two of her new two favourite people in this house: Sirius Black and Nymphadora Tonks – both of which she was technically related to. Vicki joked inside her head that she had a special ability, the second she liked someone she would find out she was related to them. It was fine with Black and Tonks, but certainly not Fred. She felt like she was dying inside, no matter how many jokes crossed her mind.

She made her way into the dining room as she wanted to see Sirius. She wasn't sure how much he knew about the Black family, especially as he was disowned when he was sixteen. But he was her best bet, even if he didn't know too much about the family he was the one who knew the most about the house which could possibly reveal the information on whether Vicki was related to Fred or not.

She saw Sirius sitting alone reading the Daily Prophet. She chewed her lip, not sure whether she should interrupt or not. Luckily for her Sirius looked up, feeling her presence. He could sense she wanted to speak to him so he indicated for her to sit down. Harry was his favourite guest in 12 Grimmauld Place, being both his godson and his only reminder of his best friend, James. But Vicki Hartwell, his second cousin once removed, was easily his second favourite. He didn't count her as family as he had disowned his family history the same way they disowned him, and Vicki always loudly aligned herself as part of her paternal grandfather's family, the Hartwell family. But like Tonks he felt a special bond with her, in a different life if their family weren't the way they were, Sirius felt that Tonks, Vicki and himself would be a trio of cousins who were very close and would always be up to no good. However unfortunately in this lifetime they would be Sirius Black, who hated his heritage with a passion, Nymphadora Tonks with the interesting and quirky muggle born father and Victoria Hartwell with the cool suave father. Vicki and Tonks luckily had other families to belong to, but poor Sirius was stuck being a Black and only a Black.

Vicki took a seat next to Sirius and immediately began to speak up.

"I've recently uncovered some documents in relation to my grandmother, Victoria. It's an interesting read, but I've stumbled across something really concerning to me." Vicki stated to Sirius.

"Oh dear, must be pretty bad considering how deranged the entire Black family were." Sirius half-joked, putting his paper down and discarding it to give Vicki his full attention.

"Yep," Vicki said as she popped the 'p' for dramatic effect before continuing on "Victoria considered Cedrella Weasley one of her favourite cousins."

Sirius shot Vicki an odd look as he didn't understand what she was trying to say, not processing what Vicki's statement really meant. Vicki understood what this confused look was so she further elaborated.

"If Cedrella and Victoria were cousins, this would make Fred my third cousin. My boyfriend is my third cousin." Vicki stated out loud.

Sirius looked at Vicki intensely. He didn't have the same shocked reaction that Maureen her mother had, but he stayed silent, knowing if he spoke up it wouldn't be words that she wanted to hear.

"So I came here hoping to find some answers…something, anything that would show that I'm not actually related to Fred." Vicki added on.

"I see. I'd love to be able to tell you in complete honesty that I knew some fact that would mean you're not related, but unfortunately I can't. I purposely shielded myself from the Black family so I don't know anything about the family tree. You're welcome to search the house for something but I doubt you'd find anything. Both Cedrella Weasley and Victoria Hartwell were burned off the family tree for marrying blood traitors, any trace of them is most likely long gone from this house." Sirius responded to Vicki.

Vicki sighed and had the same action she did at home in front of her mother, she buried her face into her arms at the table. She was worried she would never find the truth and would have to just assume she was related to Fred. It hurt her greatly, she loved Fred and was absolutely crazy about him – feeling a much stronger bond to Fred than she ever had with Roger. But even if they were third cousins it was too close for comfort, she would have to tell him the truth.

"What on earth have you done to upset her?" Molly Weasley hissed towards Sirius as she walked into the dining room suddenly.

Molly Weasley and Sirius Black didn't see eye to eye on most topics, and had been getting under each other's skin for the entirety of the summer. Molly also thought very highly of Vicki, she often told Fred that girl was the best thing to come into his life as he seemed more motivated after he met her, even his marks at school were improving. Therefore to see an upset looking Vicki in the dining hall and an amused looking Sirius look at her, she denoted that Sirius had been the one to upset her.

Vicki looked up to see Molly standing over her, shooting her a sympathetic look with a plate of fried breakfast in her hand.

"I heard you apparate here, as it's early I assumed you wouldn't have had breakfast so I cooked this up for you. Now, tell me what's wrong. What has Sirius said to you?" Molly asked Vicki, putting the plate in front of Vicki and taking a seat opposite the young girl.

"I haven't done anything." Sirius said in defence, putting his hands up, causing Molly to shoot him a filthy look.

"He's right, he hasn't done anything. I've uncovered some historical documents about the Black family, and I didn't realise how closely related Arthur's mother, and my grandmother were. Fred and I are third cousins, and that's really unsettling to me." Vicki groaned. She did hesitate in her explanation to begin with as she wasn't sure whether it was an appropriate topic to bring up with her boyfriend's mother, but found herself gushing her wirds by the end.

Molly had the strangest reaction to this news yet. Unlike Maureen who went into shock or Sirius who went silent, she began to laugh heartily.

Vicki cracked a smile at her boyfriend's mother. She was still feeling anxious and upset but the laughter was contagious. Even though Vicki thought the whole situation was deranged she started to see the humour in it. Vicki would soon learn that Molly was laughing for a different reason.

"It certainly sounds terrible doesn't it? Luckily for you there was no blood relation between Victoria and Cedrella, therefore there's no blood relation between you and Fred." Molly giggled loudly.

Vicki raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend's mother. She didn't want to challenge her statement, not wanting to be disrespectful. But she was wondering whether Molly was telling the truth, or just telling her what she wanted to hear.

"Cedrella was secretly a lovechild – a child born out of wedlock. Her mother Lysandra had an affair with a member of the Macnair family and fell pregnant. Lysandra's husband Arcturus hid the affair and claimed Cedrella as his own. Obviously quite the scandal in 1919. There is a lot more to the story and I hope I don't offend you but unfortunately I cannot tell you – it's not my story to tell, as its Arthur's family history. But you can be assured that there is definitely no relation between you and Fred." Molly warmly explained to Vicki.

Vicki listened to Molly intently and studied her face. Molly was one of the most trusted people she knew, Vicki knew Molly in this case was certainly telling the truth. It was a huge weight off her shoulders, Fred and Vicki had not come to many roadblocks in their relationship as it seemed to everyone around them that they were perfect for each other. This was the only hurdle she had to face so far in their relations and it had now gone away as quickly as it had come.

Seeing Vicki's visible happiness, Molly continued talking.

"Fred approached Arthur with the same concerns after you stayed in their tent last year at the World Cup, well before the two of you became an item. Fred had found out you were distantly related to the Black family and interrogated Arthur about it. We thought Fred just was curious whether a school friend could possibly be related or not, but it turns out he was just as fearful as you are now that the girl he liked was a relative." Molly stated in an amused tone.

Vicki's eyes widened as guilt suddenly consumed her. Not wanting to worry Fred she went above his head and searched for the answers elsewhere – through Sirius, and then eventually through Molly when she overheard the conversation. Yet if she did the correct thing and spoke about her problems with her boyfriend she would have had a resolution a lot faster.

"Well I'm glad that sometimes problems can be solved that quickly and things go back to being rosy so quickly, Merlin knows we need these easy solutions when dark times approach," Vicki said, eyeing both Molly and Sirius and watching them both bow their heads at her statement "But now that's cleared up I really don't ever want to think about it again. Can we keep this between the three of us and not mention to Fred I panicked that we were possibly related?"

Molly and Sirius curtly agreed before the topic was changed for good. Just as Vicki was finishing up her breakfast Ginny came to the dining table, Hermione following her.

"Oh good, Phelgm isn't here. As she didn't stay over last night I was scared she'd instead be here this morning." Ginny loudly exclaimed.

Vicki had to bite back her laughter by shoving an entire fried egg into her mouth. She felt terrible for finding Ginny's nickname for Fleur amusing as she and Fleur had put aside their differences, but she found the whole situation hilarious – Ginny now was the one who didn't like Fleur and had made up a rude nickname. It was a quality of Fred and George that had rubbed off onto their little sister.

"Ginerva Weasley! I have told you countless times to stop calling her that." Molly scolded her daughter, against her better judgment as she too hadn't taken a big liking to Fleur. But then after the scolding Molly realised what Ginny was saying "What do you mean she didn't stay over last night? I know she did, she left in the morning. Wasn't she in the room with you girls last night?"

The Weasleys had a very strict rule on not having members of the opposite sex share rooms under their roof unless they were married. This was also one of the reasons why Vicki insisted on staying at home rather than staying at 12 Grimmauld Place over summer – she saw no reason to sacrifice her comfortable bed if it meant she couldn't share a bed with her boyfriend and instead had to share a room with a few girls. Even though Bill was well into his twenties and had long since moved out of home, he wasn't allowed to share a room with Fleur when he stayed with his parents as they were not married.

"Nope, she certainly wasn't in our room at all last night – I even got up in the middle of the night to sneak to the loo, she made no appearance at any point." Ginny wickedly grinned.

Hermione looked uncomfortable behind the younger girl, hoping she wouldn't be dragged into the drama that Ginny was trying to stir up. Hermione quickly muttered she would see if Harry and Ron were awake before she quickly scampered off.

Molly wasn't too far behind her, not bothering to respond to Ginny and angrily saying she was about to raise hell with Bill before storming out of the dining room.

"It's always so glorious to see Mum that level of angry at someone else for once." George grinned brightly, entering into the dining hall.

Vicki jumped up from her seat anticipating that his twin brother would be right behind him. She was correct as moments later a now more-awake and fully dressed Fred Weasley made his way into the dining room.

Vicki ran towards her boyfriend, George quickly jumping out of the way as she giggled happily and jumped into his arms. They had a quick snog but stopped when they heard Ginny pretend to dry retch. Not looking embarrassed at all they broke apart and Fred put an arm around her shoulder. Vicki mentioned to Fred that she had found her bracelet in her pocket after all.

Then they were all silent – Sirius had gone back to the Daily Prophet and Fred, George, Vicki and Ginny were quiet as they heard Molly's shouts towards her eldest son Bill echo throughout the entire house. Vicki had no idea her content feeling would be very short lived, as moments later her Headmaster Professor Dumbledore would make an appearance, for the second time in two days.

"Hello all." Dumbledore said gently as he entered, acting oblivious to all the weird looks the occupants of the room were shooting him.

"Your company is always welcome here, but may I ask why you're here once more?" Sirius asked, once again putting his newspaper down and providing his full attention to Dumbledore.

"Important business will be held here very soon. A body has been found this morning that the ministry will no doubt be attempting to cover up. The family has been notified of course but have been given no answers. Max Hartwell will be joining us soon, accompanied by Nymphadora and Alistair." Dumbledore politely stated.

"Jesus Christ!" Vicki yelled loudly in a panic – using a muggle explorative rather than the usual 'Merlin!' the magic community used – as terror ran through her body and did not give her time to process her thoughts "Do I have any reason to worry? Why is my father coming here?"

Although Vicki had been exposed to the Order of the Phoenix by Dumbledore, her parents were not privy to all of the information given to Vicki. Maureen Smith had almost abandoned the magic community, whilst her father Maxwell Hartwell had lived a life where he had been left alone by dark magic and had never had a reason to fight. Max knew very little about the Order of the Phoenix, he only knew they had reformed after the events of the Triwizard Tournament and his daughter was helping the order clear out their headquarters – Max assumed it was partly because she wanted to follow her boyfriend, but also because Vicki lost her very close friend Cedric Diggory to dark wizards not too long ago.

Therefore Vicki panicked at Dumbledore's words. Her father had no reason to come to the house unless the body was of some relevance to her father, and therefore to her as well. It was a very common occurrence, but Vicki's analysis would be correct.

Before Dumbledore could respond to Vicki the doorbell rang. They all embraced themselves as they knew what happened when the doorbell rang – the portrait of Walburga Black was awoken and the curtains opened to her screams.

"Filth! Utter horrible filth. Dirty mudbloods, dirty half-breed filth, blood traitor disgusting animals!" The screeches ran loud from the hallway.

The portrait had been carrying on all summer, only ever screaming out insults about the people currently residing in the house – referring to them as either mudbloods, half-bloods or blood traitors. All of the residents had long gotten used to her terrible insults, it was the screaming and loud noises that drove them all insane. It wasn't known whether the portrait only held Walburga's most extreme views or was just so hate filled of what had taken over her home she could only scream insults, but it was the same things regurgitated each time.

However for the first time this summer, she would scream something different. When Vicki got up and ran to the hallway, she saw her father who looked around at the surroundings with a curious look, eyeing the portrait of Walburga Black nervously. Alistair Moody was directly behind him alongside Nymphadora Tonks who had obviously accompanied Max Hartwell. This was when new phrases were screamed by the horrible woman.

"Hartwell scum! Get OUT. Disgusting family made up of filthy halfbreeds and blood traitors. Children of impurity, continuing to live on like the cockroaches you are. Slimy disgusting filth, how dare your disgusting bloodline live on after that WHORE Victoria and that DIRTY blood traitor Andrew Hartwell were wiped out. FILTH." The portrait screamed, finding as many ways to use its favourite word 'filth' as possible – but using brand new insults.

Fred immediately latched onto his girlfriend in an effort to comfort her. Fred had no idea about the politics that Vicki had uncovered within the last twenty four hours but he knew that Vicki was named after her grandmother, and that they had died very young. He knew it was Vicki's grandparents that Mrs Black was referring to, and that it wasn't a very nice thing for her to hear.

The new insults that Walburga were screaming had stirred up the curiousity of the entire house. Molly Weasley who was still red in the face from yelling at her eldest son for sneaking his girlfriend in overnight had come running over, Bill not far behind her. Sirius, George and Ginny had followed Vicki alongside Fred when she had run out of the dining room. Harry, Ron and Hermione were also at the top of the staircase, their mouths open in shock at the situation unfolding in front of their eyes. The only one not present was Sirius – but this was untrue as a large black dog stood in the hallway. Max Hartwell was not on the need to know basis yet that Sirius Black was amongst their midst as an innocent man.

Dumbledore ushered Vicki, Max, Moody, Tonks and Molly into the dining room, informing the other children they were not permitted to enter. Fred and George complained loudly that they were of age and it was unfair that Vicki was allowed in, but when Dumbledore said it was a Hartwell family matter they both backed down out of respect for Vicki. Vicki gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the lips and said she would catch up with him later before she shut the dining room door behind her.

She pulled out her wand and used a muffling spell on the draft under the door.

"This is to stop them from using those extendable ears. I doubt they will, but just in case. It's all good and well when they're being cheeky and wanting to learn information they've been excluded from, but not when it comes to my family." Vicki explained, taking a seat next to her father.

They all sat in silence for a few moments. As she was the one most in the dark about why her father had visited and what body had been found, she was the one to first speak up.

"What's up with that portrait today, anyway? I thought it was only capable of using the words 'Mudblood' 'Filth' 'Blood Traitor' and 'Half-breed' and had no real conscious thought. I've been in front of that portrait many times over the past few weeks and it's never once referred to me by my surname. But the second my father enters it seemed to go off about the both of us." Vicki asked suddenly, aiming her question towards Dumbledore as she felt he would have the most answers.

"The very same reason the victim's family of the body discovered in the early hours of this morning have contacted your father. Max is so very similar looking to his father. One look at him and Walburga's portrait could see Andrew Hartwell and all of the negative emotions that his presence would stir up – including emotions about Andrew's wife, Victoria." Dumbledore explained.

Dumbledore's words were definitely true. Max was only a toddler when he was orphaned however many photographs were left behind of Andrew Hartwell and his wife. Max had inherited his father's dark hair, facial structure and bright blue eyes. In turn Vicki had also inherited these features – her mother Maureen always loudly complained Vicki looked nothing like her and resembled her father strikingly. Vicki wasn't being insecure when she believed she didn't look like the half-Veela beauty Victoria Hartwell the first – it was due to the fact she had inherited her grandfather's genes instead. Both Vicki and her father Max were living reminders of the family patriarch – Andrew.

"So I've received this letter purely because I look like my father? Let me tell you, I was having a normal day when I first went into work. Then I received that letter and shortly after Arthur Weasley ushered Tonks and Moody into my office before I set off for here with Tonks and Moody. That letter said the victim was in love with my father at school and therefore I may know something of her disappearance." Max began to explain.

"Yes, I assumed the letter would say something along those lines." Dumbledore said in a calm matter.

Max banged his fists onto the table. He was very confused as he was only being given bits of information and not the entire story as a whole. His confusion was causing anger and in turn the rage was causing him to lash out.

"Why? Why would I possibly know anything? My own parents died when I was young, it's not like my dear old father had the chance to pass any anecdotes from school onto me. Besides I know this is a famous case, she was missing for over fifty years. Why am I being dragged into this, and I bloody hope my seventeen year old daughter isn't getting involved." Max angrily growled.

"Can you blame them? If their loved one has been missing for fifty years, if her body was discovered today it's finally some closure for them, but they probably still have lots of unanswered questions they want the answers to so they can lay both their loved one and this mystery to rest." Vicki piped up, the only one who was brave enough to challenge Max in these circumstances.

"Victoria, you have no idea what you're talking about. How would I know anything about this mystery? My parents died when I was young." Max croaked out, being so angry with his daughter he used her full name, but the fire in his soul dying by the end of his statement. He tried to never show it, but it really affected him that he was unfairly orphaned at such a young age. The letter he received was stirring up these emotions inside him, and he wasn't happy.

"If the family knew about the love this person had for my grandfather, and knew of your existence as their child, they clearly know of my grandparents' fate. They are either very desperate for information or suspect there is information available if they are contacting you, both of which I don't fault them for writing to you." Vicki piped up.

There was still tension in the air as the room fell silent. No one – not even Dumbledore wanted to interrupt the very difficult conversation the father and daughter were having. Molly put her hand on her son's girlfriend's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before dropping it, wanting to offer some reassurance to the girl.

Finally Max backed down as he processed the information his daughter was giving him. He could sympathise with the family that had reached out to him. After all, he was an orphan due to a mystery disappearance – his two parents never returned home one day and had not been seen since – both presumed to be dead a long time ago. He had no right to get angry at these people wanting information, when he himself was also searching for answers.

"The fact of the matter is however, I have no knowledge or information about the girl that went missing fifty years ago. I've still got the little possessions I was given of my parents, there's no love letters or personal records from their time at Hogwarts. I have no knowledge on who on earth Mary Figgestill is." Max stated loudly.

Vicki's eyes widened as she looked towards Dumbledore – who was already looking right at Vicki expecting this reaction. She inhaled a deep breath as she was genuinely shocked. She felt a bit bad as she was almost annoyed at the 'spoiler' that had been unleashed on her. All she knew about Mary was that at the first Slug Club party in her grandmother's seventh year at school this Mary girl seemed to somehow charm Newt Scamander and had an intimate dance with Tom Riddle, even though she was Andrew Hartwell's date. At the time this caused her grandmother to become very jealous.

But now it was revealed that sometime after this event Mary went missing, only for her body to have been discovered this very morning? The timing should have creeped out Vicki as it was a very large coincidence that this happened the same time she was given Tori Black's diary, but instead sinister thoughts were swimming around in her head.

What if Tori was the one who made Mary disappear? Did spending time with Tom Riddle cause darkness to grow within her – and the ugly jealousy that started rearing its head in the entry she was reading grow into cold blooded murder?

It nearly made Vicki laugh when she realised an hour ago she was worried her boyfriend was her third cousin – it was such a big deal only a short time ago but now she had to worry about disappearances, dead bodies and possibly now being related to a murderer.

"I suppose I better explain the life and disappearance of Mary Figglestill. Even if some of us have not yet finished their research." Dumbledore spoke up, directing the last line towards Vicki.

"Mary Figglestill was a very bright muggle born student. She studied very hard and in her seventh year Armando Dippet chose her to be Head Girl – alongside Thomas Marvolo Riddle as Head Boy." Dumbledore began.

Most of the room had a reaction. Molly and Tonks flinched at this revelation, whilst Moody let out a loud growl. Vicki snapped her eyes to her father who seemed to be deep in thought, Vicki assumed he was trying to remember where he had heard that name before.

"So this is connected to You-Know-Who?" Molly gasped.

"I believe so. It was well known that Andrew Hartwell had a certain fondness for Victoria Black who at the time did not return those feelings. Andrew then began to court Mary. Mary was deeply in love with Andrew and was perhaps a little sore that Andrew had always had his eye on Victoria. Right before Christmas holidays that year Victoria and Mary got into a bit of an altercation. During those holidays, Mary Figglestill disappeared and there were no traces found of her until she washed up along a shore this morning, her body perfectly preserved." Dumbledore explained.

"Was my mother a murderer?" Max asked Dumbledore, the only one capable of speaking up after the horror that Dumbledore unleashed. Vicki had a million questions swimming around in her head but was unable to speak.

"No. Victoria Black was never a suspect. There was only ever a very small window in which she disappeared, and Victoria was at a wedding and had a rock solid alibi. Every single person who had ever known your grandmother could attest that she was a sweet girl not capable of murder. Whoever caused her to disappear was hoping Andrew would be framed for the crime – as it's the boyfriend who is always the main suspect in these cases. Unfortunately for that person Andrew was with Mary's parents at that time and could not have been the one to cause her to disappear. The case quickly went cold, it was assumed a muggle not known to Mary must have been to blame and committed the atrocity in a random attack." Dumbledore stated in detail.

Those around the room were visibly affected by the morbid story Dumbledore was telling. Molly and Tonks looked shaken, and Moody had long since abandoned anger as an emotion and was muttering to himself and shaking his head. Max was in deep shock and no emotion was to be on his face. Vicki had a range of emotions going through her head. She felt sick, she felt anger, she felt depressed and she felt anxious. It was almost getting too much for her to handle, but she wanted to keep pressing on with questions and theories.

"That's where you think Riddle came in. He didn't like my grandfather – right? He made Mary disappear so my grandfather would get the blame." Vicki piped up.

"Well, yes and no. He certainly did detest your grandfather and one of the intentions was for the crime to be pinned onto your grandfather. I believe he had other intentions too. I think it had something to do with his fond feelings for your grandmother. However I think that's enough story telling for today. It does not do well to discuss theories with no evidence to back them, and I feel emotions are getting the best of us." Dumbledore humbly exclaimed.

Usually Vicki was one who needed answers and needed them straight away. But the dark conversation and revelations had taken its toll on her. It had brought back all the painful memories of Cedric Diggory's recent death. Vicki was seated at the front of the third task and saw his cold body arrive back with Harry. She had torn her eyes away and quickly ushered students out of the area alongside her fellow Ravenclaw prefect and ex-boyfriend Roger Davies. But she'd never forget the lifeless form of her best friend, and talks of disappearances and dead bodies washing on a shore forced Cedric's death into her mind, and she began to shake.

"I…I need to go." Vicki stuttered, as she began to slowly make her way back to the door.

"I'll escort you out – I think your father needs some details filled in, and I'll leave him with the capable hands of those in this room." Dumbledore said kindly.

No one bothered to speak out and both Dumbledore and Vicki got up from their seats.

They both left the room and didn't speak up until they shut the door and took a few steps out.

"I should have a million questions for you, but I don't. I only have two. They're not even related to my grandmother's story, just two about the current task at hand." Vicki spoke up.

"I'll answer them, if I can." Dumbledore said politely.

"What's going to happen with my father? Surely you won't be obliviating him. It appears the truth has purposely been kept for him so long, I just wanted to know how much will now be shared with him." Vicki asked Dumbledore.

"He will be filled in with what he needs to know. If his involvement in putting Mary Figglestill to rest will help with the healing process for her family, I think it's a good thing and he should know what he needs to know," Dumbledore answered but then had a question of his own "In your humble opinion, do you think he should know about your task at hand?"

Vicki bit her lip as she submerged herself deep into thought. It seemed wrong to her that Victoria Black's story was being shared with her, her granddaughter but was being kept from her son. Vicki figured that surely her father had just as much of a right, if not more of a right to know Vicki was in possession of his mother's diary and was reading and analysing the diary closely.

But part of her felt it would not be a good idea for her father to know. Vicki trusted Dumbledore immensely and knew there was a reason the diary was given to her and not her father. Vicki also wanted to protect her family. She wanted to protect her father from the truth – surely it was nicer to live in ignorance of his parent's disappearance than learn both of his parents had meddled in the Dark Lord's affairs. Vicki also now felt foolish for feeling this way, but she felt a small connection to her grandmother after reading her most private thoughts. Vicki knew it would only ever be one sided as it was just words on a page and her grandmother was long gone but she was able to now feel a fondness for a relative she had never met. This feeling made her want to protect her grandmother's memory and hide the fact she fraternised with the most famous dark wizard of all time.

"Can I get back to you on that? My answer might change depending on how the story ends." Vicki weakly smiled, trying to remain cheerful when so much darkness was surrounding her at present.

"Wanting to know all of the facts before making a decision, very wise Miss Hartwell, you are a true Ravenclaw." Professor Dumbledore smiled at her, and it was the first time that day she had seen the twinkling in his eyes when he smiled.

Vicki beamed with pride as his statement cheered her up a little. Vicki was very house proud and was one of the proudest Ravenclaw students currently at Hogwarts. When she was initially sorted the hat desperately wanted to put her in Gryffindor like all of her Hartwell ancestors, but she spent minutes arguing with the hat, listing compelling reasons on why she belonged in Ravenclaw. The hat eventually gave up and muttered she clearly was best suited for the Ravenclaw house.

"One more question. It's been made pretty evident that Operation 'Diary of Victoria Black' isn't something I should be broadcasting to the world. I've kept it top secret, even from both of my parents. Can I please open up to Fred if he swears to secrecy? I need at least one person I can talk about this with to offset the dark feelings. Who better than my fun-filled boyfriend?" Vicki asked Dumbledore sweetly, trying to pose the question as an argument.

"Yes. I permit you to speak about your task with Fred Weasley but I must kindly ask you to speak about it with no one else – well, unless that person is written about in the diary." Dumbledore responded.

Vicki laughed thinking he was joking, but he did not chuckle alongside her. Most of those people in the diary were now quite old and Vicki had no way of ever stumbling across any of her grandmother's peers. But it quickly became evident that Dumbledore was being serious. Vicki dropped the laugher and sent him a small smile. Vicki doubted she would come across any of her grandmother's school friends written about in the diary, but accepted this was perhaps advice Dumbledore was giving her, and she would take it if given the chance.

"Right, well. Thank you. I'm sure you've got your work cut out for you today – that tends to happen when a former student washes up fifty years later after being marked as missing – and that's only referring to your headmaster duties, being part of the Order means there's even more for you to do. I won't keep you." Vicki winked towards Dumbledore.

Dumbledore bid Vicki a quick farewell before he shuffled back into the room that contained Molly, Tonks, Moody and her father. There was an eerie silence in the hallway, Walburga Black's portrait was dormant once more with the curtains closed. Vicki took no hesitation in jumping up the stairs two at a time in search for her boyfriend.

She now had lots to share with him and he would help take some of the darkness away. She would then be able to pick that diary up and finish her grandmother's story.

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 **Told you that you'd hate me ;) I however can promise less Riddle and more Newt in just a few chapters (and definitely some one-on-one Newt chemistry in the next chapter) so you'll soon love me again.**

 **This is the longest chapter I have EVER written for a story, but it didn't feel right breaking it up. So therefore it's practically four updates in one.**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **AnadoraBlack - muahahaha now you have to wait longer to see if Tori accepts the dance ;) at least if she doesn't there's more Newt for us?! I'm glad you're picking up the subtle clues about Riddle, this isn't a happy story where Riddle is an out of character jerk who becomes good, it's going to get fairly dark - this chapter is now bringing out how dark it can get.**

 **Guest - thank you so much for your lovely review - I really appreciation it and it's nice to see someone analysising the story in such detail! Hopefully you don't hate me for this chapter haha. As stated above also I'm glad you've picked up the clues about Riddle also.**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is the chapter you've all been waiting for, but it's still only a glimpse of some serious Newt action that's to come.**

 **In response to the reviews:**

 **Guest: Yesssss! You've made my day - I'm actually so happy there's at least one person who reads both stories. I also promise to update that one really soon! :) Hopefully this chapter will answer a few of your question, but I promise the next few will answer some more. Thanks heaps for the kind reviews as always, and I'm so glad to have you on board xx**

 **AnadoraBlack: I hate to give away the plot but you may or may not be (may, definitely may ;) ) be on the right track! You've also made me so happy that there's actually someone out there that would go into such depth and analyse my story haha. Thanks for your reviews, I really appreciate them.**

 **KirikaAndo: I still love that you introduced me to "Noot" it's still the greatest thing ever - thanks so much! I'm sure this chapter will be very exciting for you :)**

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I blinked a few times as Newt approached me and asked me to dance. I wanted to desperately say yes but I looked to the crowd to see where Andrew had gotten to. After all I had promised this dance to him, and I was a lady of my word.

It seemed Andrew didn't extend this courtesy to me as I saw from across the room Andrew was busy chatting with a fifth year Hufflepuff girl who was giggling furiously, it looked as though she was over the moon that a handsome older boy was paying attention to her. I was annoyed for a split second until I realised Andrew's proposal to me was on the condition of 'when he got back' we would dance. He wasn't back, I didn't owe him his dance yet. This was now a convenient arrangement for me.

I almost felt sorry for dear Mary Figglestill for a few moments as her escort was having improper relations with another girl in plain sight – but then I realised my date was doing the same. One quick look at Tom and his face was still close to Mary's – the same unreadable look on his face. It didn't look like he was enjoying the dance but at the same time he didn't look displeased about being forced to dance with her – I was still not happy about how intimate the two looked.

"I'd love to…" I said to Newt, accepting his offer for a dance.

I did intend to leave my acceptance with just those words but then it slipped out. My mother warned me that once I started choosing to use my Veela charms it would begin to come to me naturally, and appeared these special powers were now growing. I couldn't help it, for some reason Newt made me feel flirtatious.

"…professor." I finished, leaning in to whisper his title into his ear seductively.

I froze as the confidence left my body. Newt seemed to freeze for a second as well but then pepped up and smiled wildly. He offered me his hand silently and I accepted, placing my entire hand inside his palm and strolling over to the dancefloor with him.

We weren't the first teacher-student duo on the dancefloor after people began to re-enter the floor once Tom and Figglestill had been dancing for an appropriate amount of time. The elderly Astronomy professor – Professor Silvershade was dancing erratically with a tiny third year girl, making those around them laugh at their crazy antics as he swung her around. Even Professor Slughorn himself had picked a dance partner – a girl who's name, house or year I did know, but had her prefects badge pinned to her dress robes and they both dancing innocently. Therefore we didn't look out of place dancing as student and teacher, but I knew at the back of my mind the other teachers and students paired up didn't feel as raw as Newt and I did – it wasn't comical or for show like the other two.

Newt slowly placed his arms gently onto my waist and I placed an arm on each of his shoulders. Just as fast as my powers appeared, they seemed to disappear just as quickly. I suddenly felt nervous, Newt was making me feel this way. He gave me a small smile and I felt some of my fears and nerves vanish but I certainly didn't feel as flirtatious as I did moments ago. We began to sway slowly, we were now officially dancing.

"Do you remember your first dance with someone?" I asked him, in an attempt to make conversation so we wouldn't be dancing silently the whole time.

"Of course." Newt responded. Once again he immediately didn't take the social cue that this was now his chance to continue with more information, but after I gave him a look of expectation he took the hint.

"It was during my time at Hogwarts. One year instead of a Halloween feast they had a Halloween ball instead to try and change things up a bit, but the rumour was that our Headmaster Professor Black wanted to use it as an excuse to pair up notable girls and boys to continue on their family bloodlines..." Newt trailed off.

"Sounds about right. Great Grandfather Black had died before I was born, but a nasty rumour is that he died of disappointment when one of his grandsons – my father – married a Veela and intended to bring half-blood offspring into the family. I'm not sure what's worse, the rumour or the fact it could be true." I explained to Newt.

His mouth opened in awe and I wasn't sure if he was horrified of what I had just told him or whether he was embarrassed he spoke ill of my great grandfather before he made the connection that the headmaster of his time was blood related to me. My cheeks went rosy when I realised I had hijacked the conversation and after a few stutters Newt continued on.

"Yes well, let me tell you he wasn't a very popular headmaster that's for sure. But it was at that Halloween ball I had a dance with a very dear friend. That was my first dance and it's one I won't forget." Newt said with a smile on his face and I could tell he was reliving the memory in his mind. His smile was contagious, it made me smile as he looked so happy. I liked seeing him this way.

His smile quickly turned into a frown as he looked down at me and quickly spoke up.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this dance, mind you." He quickly blabbed on in defence.

"I didn't think anything of it. I'm just glad your first dance was a lovely one. Mine certainly wasn't." I responded.

"Why is that? What happened?" Newt didn't have to take a social cue this time. He was interested enough to ask me and had great concern in his eyes.

"Ah, it's a bit silly. It was a wedding I went to when I was eleven, by then I was expected to start socialising with the other children and my parents pushed me to find a dance partner. None of the boys wanted to dance with me as they had obviously heard from their parents I was considered a half-blood and thus they avoided me like the plague." I began to explain.

Newt let out a gasp, something I wasn't expecting. He then looked deep into my eyes and took a hand off my waist as he lightly brushed the side of my face as he studied my face carefully, even going as far as to tuck some loose curls behind my ears. I didn't even realise relieving a fairly painful memory was making me feel a bit upset, but I certainly felt better at Newt's compassion and small display of affection towards me.

"I can't believe we live in a world where there are people who would turn down the unbelievably wonderful opportunity to dance with you. I know you get told this regularly but you're so beautiful. There's more to you than just beauty but I am in shock there's those out there that would turn down a dance with someone as remarkable as you." Newt stated boldly.

My eyes widened at Newt's words. No one had ever said something so nice to me before, not even Tom. It wasn't just the words used either, but how gentle Newt was as he said it. He was genuinely trying to get his opinion across – there were no underlying motives. I suddenly grew a little self-conscious and looked around the dancefloor wondering if anyone noticed the intimate moment that Newt and I were having.

I looked around but no one seemed to be watching. Everyone was either still pre occupied with their dance partner or busy looking towards Tom and Mary who were still dancing. No one was paying attention to Newt and I. This was perfect, as I wanted to keep this special moment between Newt and I. Unfortunately however I wasn't used to hearing compliments that extended outside the way I looked and didn't know how to respond gracefully. I decided to continue on with my anecdote in hopes of occupying Newt so he wouldn't know how embarrassed I was or how awkward I felt.

"Well my older cousin Cedrella whisked me around the dance floor and asked every boy around the same age as me if they would dance with me, promising she would dance with them herself after she was done. Even though a pretty older girl offered to dance, no one took her up on her offer." I continued on.

Newt only sent me a sympathetic look – I could tell he wanted to speak up and probably say something to make me feel better but he didn't say anything so he could give me the courtesy to finish my story.

"Finally one boy took her up on her offer. It hurt that he only agreed so he could dance with my cousin, but we did indeed have a small dance. No one had ever taught me how to dance so I awkwardly grabbed his waist as he grabbed mine, not knowing that girls are meant to grab the neck. We lasted about a minute at the most before he scampered away muttering it wasn't worth it. So that was my first dance." I stated, and forced a grin on my face as I didn't realise the re-telling of a funny coming-of-age story of embarrassment would cause Newt to feel so sorry for me.

"I bet all the boys want to dance with you now." Newt quietly to me and I only then realised how close we now were – my arms were tight around his neck and rather than having his arms lightly touching my waist they were well and truly holding on. I was fearful to look around the dancefloor now, knowing we had long pushed the boundaries of a teacher-student dance.

I had also stopped looking towards where Tom and Mary were dancing and quite frankly, right now I wasn't too concerned about those two. All I was doing was paying attention to Newt's worried eyes which were fixed directly onto my face. Due to my mother's advice and my insecurities I previously thought there was nothing between Newt and I. The events of our dance had proven otherwise. I still couldn't be sure how he felt towards me, but I could no longer deny I held feelings for him, even if they may have only gone one way.

I gave him a nervous smile as these thoughts raced through my head. I almost spoke up and confessed all of my private thoughts to him there and then but held myself back. It didn't feel like it was the right time to tell him. Maybe there never would be a right time, but it certainly wasn't now.

"You wanted to dance with me, that's all that counts right now." I decided to answer with, ending the pity party I had started previously with a compliment towards Newt. The best part was that it rolled off of my tongue charismatically.

For a brief second I pondered on whether my newly awakened Veela charms could possibly be getting stronger. The thought immediately left me as I focused on Newt's wide smile beaming towards me.

"I have an idea." Newt said as he unwrapped himself from my arms around his neck but grabbed my wrist lightly as he began to lead me off the dancefloor quickly.

"Where are we going?" I giggled, enjoying his spontaneous idea and actions.

"I'm taking you to the outside grounds. If you stand just outside the castle and face the forest from there – the Hinkypunk's lanterns shine so brightly and beautiful this time of month. I'd love to show you." Newt stated, sounding excited as he began to lead me through the crowds of people as he kept a tight grasp on my wrist.

It was then I seemed to come back to reality. I dug my heels into the ground to bring us to a halt and Newt turned around and looked at me innocently. It wasn't a look of anger or annoyance but one of worry – he was apprehensive about my reasons for halting.

I didn't even know my reasons for stopping – watching Hinkypunks in their natural environment late at night with my favourite teacher (the 'teacher' part I was trying to not think about right now so perhaps one of my favourite people was a better term) sounded like the thing I wanted to do the most. But I knew I had to stay in the castle – it wasn't a good idea to mix up my feelings by spending quality one-on-one time with Newt at the moment. Plus I also agreed to escort Tom to this party, it wasn't decent for a lady to go off with one man when she was meant to be accompanying another.

Tom. For the first time in a while I remembered Tom, and Mary dancing. My eyes darted to the dancefloor – but Tom and Mary were nowhere to be seen. I turned my attention back onto sweet Newt and guilt immediately flushed through me as I knew I had to turn down his kind invitation, as much as I didn't want to.

"Oh I'd love to, I really would. I just don't think it's entirely appropriate that I came to the party with Tom and then would leave with another person." I truthfully responded to Newt, regret etched all over my face as I was ignoring every instinct inside me – which was screaming to go with Newt and to forget Tom.

"Right, yes, okay, that makes sense." Newt quickly stammered out, and I could hear the hurt and rejected feeing he must have been feeling in his voice.

"I would love to do it another time though, really." I stated enthusiastically.

Newt looked around nervously, as if he were about to say something he knew he shouldn't. Then he spoke up when it looked as though the coast was clear and no one was paying attention to us.

"Next time I'll ask you when you're…unoccupied, and when I can have you all to myself." Newt declared. Although the words sounded flirty or possessive he said them with such innocence I could tell he didn't mean anything by it and was just stating a simple fact. I wasn't sure whether I should be disappointed by it or not.

"Hello Professor Scamander, we haven't had the chance to meet properly." We both heard and spun around to see Tom standing there alone – no Mary in sight.

Due to Tom's possessive nature I expected him to be livid about the fact I was dancing with another man but instead he stood there pleasantly with a smile on his face, beaming at Newt.

Newt also seemed to be caught off guard as he didn't seem to know how to greet Tom, I assumed that his awkward nature took over.

"Pleasure to meet you, I've heard great things about you. Everyone around here seems to have taken a great liking to you." Newt said, taking Tom's hand and giving him a brief handshake but I noticed it was neither a long nor firm handshake.

"I must say you're a highly esteemed Magizoologist, if I knew the best in the field would be taking the class I would have continued the course after O.W.L. level. Care to join Victoria and I for a drink?" Tom asked Newt politely, indicating towards the bar that had been set up that was serving both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Newt was silent for a few moments and I realised that his attention was on me as he pondered Tom's proposal. I pretended I had not noticed his gaze as it made me feel a little shy. So much had happened in a short amount of time and I felt a little overwhelmed.

"I would love to, however unfortunately I have a task I need to do," Newt sighed as he turned down Tom's idea with an explanation "Tonight is my last chance for the month to study Hinkypunks, I'm researching on whether they should be considered beasts or spirits."

"Well we won't keep you then. Tori, shall we go do the rounds?" Tom turned to me, holding his arm out for me to take.

I was slightly relieved that Newt had turned down Tom's offer. Even though Tom was nothing short of a gentleman towards Newt it still made me feel uncomfortable to be around both of them at the same time. Tonight I was really confused about my feelings towards Newt – the less time I spent around him at the moment the better. He was my teacher and also he had a wife, we were not to be. I needed to let these feelings I also had for Tom develop properly, he was clearly the much better match for me, and I knew for a fact he was quite keen on me.

"It was lovely talking to you. Bye Professor Scamander." I said towards Newt, absolutely no flirty undertones this time as I used his formal title in front of Tom.

Newt frowned for a very small moment before he quickly pretended he hadn't, giving me a weak smile before he disappeared into the crowd making his way towards the exit of Slughorn's office.

I would have analysed why he frowned but I did not have the time as Tom was pulling me towards the bar area which was being manned by a House-elf bartender, and my full attention was drawn to Tom.

"What would you like to drink? There's almost everything you can think of here." Tom asked me.

I almost asked how Slughorn got away with serving alcoholic beverages to school students but then realised that there was probably a few reasons why. Mainly he didn't care about bending the rules or being slightly inappropriate, as long as it made his parties a success. That summed up Slughorn's personality in general.

"Oh um, a Butterbeer would be fine, thanks." I said to both Tom and the House-elf at the bar, realising that it may be bad form for me to be drinking alcohol at this event.

"Two Firewhiskeys, thanks." Tom said to the House-elf, ignoring my request in entirely and ordering a drink on my behalf.

"Really, Butterbeer would be fine, it may be a bit tasteless and rude if I drink alcohol considering I wasn't even invited and I'm only here as your date." I spoke up rather meekly.

"Don't listen to the lady, she wants Firewhiskey." Tom said to the House-elf, muttering the request fairly forcefully.

The elf paused as it studied both Tom and I carefully, deciding what to do. It then got two glasses and used magic to pour two Firewhiskeys, deciding to listen to Tom in the end.

Tom thanked the House-elf and then turned to me, I was pouting a little as I was unhappy that he didn't respect my wishes and let me have a non-alcoholic drink as I had wanted and instead had manipulated the situation to force me to have the choice I did not want.

"Cheer up beautiful, you'll have more fun drinking this instead, trust me." Tom stated as he clinked his glass with mine.

Reluctantly I took a sip, feeling the rough burn as the liquid poured down my throat. I had consumed alcohol before at weddings and other special events but never Firewhiskey – it was usually considered a man's drink and improper for a lady.

"So, what happened with Figglestill?" I suddenly asked Tom, as I found myself growing curious once again about their dance, and how I was not able to read Tom's expressions at the time of his dance with Mary.

"What happened with Scamander?" Tom piped up, matching my curiousity with his own.

Oh.


	11. Chapter 11

**I hope you all will forgive me - I was going to have this be longer but as I wrote this I felt it waa better to leave it where it currently is. Really good things are coming and there's going to be a lot of Newt spam starting next chapter!**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **KirikaAndo - well in that case if you usually don't review I appreciate all of your reviews even more 3 I think everyone ships Victoria with Newt more over Tom (including me - so you know where this story is going... ;) )**

 **Guest: thank you for your continued reviews on both of my stories! You don't blabber on at all and even if you did - I like it! I love reading your in depth analysis of each chapter, it really helps me write! All your analysis always come to the same conclusion I'm trying to portray so it's really nice to read. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.**

 **AnadoraBlack- This chapter slightly hints about Newt's marriage with more to be revealed soon - hopefully it makes you feel better :) your comment about Tom "boning" Mary in the corner so we could have more Newt goodness made me burst out laughing.**

 **Kavernista- I absolutely love that you use the words "Fantastic Beasts" to describe creatures! My fiance and I keep calling our cat "Fantastic Beastie" - I think the cat is sick of our crap but I don't care.**

 **Lele23- I've updated the other story since your review but I can promise another one for that story is coming really soon :) it's halfway done.**

 **CarlyLynn - thanks so much for the kind words :) great to have you on board.**

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"You abandoned me, Andrew abandoned, everyone abandoned me so I had to dance with the teacher." I pouted, wanting to downplay the interactions that Newt and I had just had.

For a second I pondered on the fact I had to lie about my dealings with Newt – were they inappropriate? However I quickly let it go as I realised I needed to have this conversation with Tom.

I tried to read his face to see whether he would show anger or pity towards me. As always his face seemed so neutral, he was a very hard boy to read compared to Newt who I was always able to read like a book.

"I didn't abandon you – I was requested to dance with Figglestill by Slughorn and out of respect to my dear teacher I fulfilled that request." Tom responded fairly formally.

I stayed silent hoping he would continue on as I still was unsure of the emotions brewing inside of him and thus I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond.

"I must say I'd rather you dance with Scamander than Hartwell, it's nice that your professor would ask you to dance." Tom concluded quickly changing his tone as he grabbed my hand and led me to the dancefloor, and I quickly abandoned my Firewhiskey glass in the process.

The rest of the night seemed to go quickly. Tom and I downed quite a few drinks and did the rounds speaking to people. I had lived in my Slytherin bubble my whole time at school and had never really conversed with others outside my house. It was actually very enjoyable – no one from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw (the latter who's students I always envied for being intelligent) cared that my mother was a Veela and thus I was half-blood and perhaps not worthy of my surname.

I was a little shy and let Tom dominate all of the conversations but a few girls did pull me aside when Tom spoke wizard politics and other intellectual topics with the other men to speak with me directly, Mary Figglestill was one of them.

"So, how did you and Riddle happen?" she asked me nicely as we made our way to the comfortable couches together and sat down.

I looked towards him as he seemed submerged into conversation across the room with Slughorn and a few of the other boys, Lestrange and Avery included.

"Oh, I don't know really. We've always been on very friendly terms but this school year he's began to court me in a very friendly manner. It's been quite nice." I explained with a big smile on my face. Tom made me feel giddy and I enjoyed this feeling.

"If I must be honest, I was so relieved when you both began to see each other. I do genuinely believe you look nice together, but there's some selfish motives behind my happiness too." Mary began to explain to me.

"Oh?" I asked out of curiousity, cocking up an eyebrow.

"Yes," she began and I saw her go bright red "I've had a huge thing for Andrew Hartwell for years, but he had always seemed to be infatuated with you. Now that you're finally with someone he seems to have let it go."

"Oh! No, Andrew was mostly joking when he kept asking me out. He knows I'm shy and reserved so it was a prank to ask me out, he knew I'd be uncomfortable. You know, Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry." I spoke up quickly, wanting to help out Andrew with his date by minimize our previous interactions and make Mary more confident in him. I even swatted my hand in the air to use body language to emphasise my point.

I saw Mary's face light up, this is definitely what she wanted to hear. She decided to return the favour and tell me something I potentially wanted to hear.

"I know a lot of people thought Tom and I would get together, but I can tell you that won't happen, no matter how many Head Boy and Head Girl duties push us together. He is very handsome but I just don't think he's my type." Mary explained with a small smile on her face.

I tried to not read too much into her statement. What is she insinuating when she said he wasn't her type – is that an attack towards me considering I'm seeing him? But I didn't bother to dig deeper – maybe she wasn't attracted to something about his appearance. Tom was strikingly handsome whilst Andrew had friendly and boyish good looks, maybe that's just what Mary preferred – a youthful and cheeky face over one that looked sculpted by angels.

"That Professor Scamander really is a looker though isn't he? I was swooning when we were talking before, he was so flattering towards me too. If I wasn't with Andrew and if he wasn't a Professor, well. I can tell you I would certainly be with him." Mary gossiped towards me, saying her statement in a whisper and then giggling loudly towards the end.

"Yes, too bad he has a wife." I responded, trying my hardest to not say it through gritted teeth or too coldly.

Once again Mary Figglestill had made me dislike her, even though I had no real reason to. She was allowed to find a teacher attractive, even if I thought the same thing about that same teacher. This wasn't even what bothered me. What I didn't like was how confident she was about it – blankly stating if situations were different she would be with him, not even pondering on whether he would want her back. I think the worst part was that I truly believed in a hypothetical situation he would certainly pick Mary over me. Veela charms were weak on someone who knew how to not let it affect them, an esteemed Magizoologist like Newt would see past my looks. Mary also had exotic beauty, a traveller like him would appreciate that. She was also highly intelligent and motivated, she was the full package. I would never stand a chance against her when it came to Newt.

"But he's come to Hogwarts without her, hasn't he? All the happily married Hogwarts teachers stay in Hogsmeade with their spouses. He told me tonight his living quarters are behind his office, and he stays in the castle on weekends. That's got to count for something, right?" Mary smirked as she gossiped with me further.

I sent her a look of disbelief as I didn't know what to say. I was happy she shared this information with me but out of respect for Newt I didn't want to discuss his private life with Mary any further. She wasn't even one of his students, she didn't take Care of the Magical Creatures. I also didn't like that he was telling Mary about his living quarters – why would he do that?

"But I guess that's irrelevant anyway, right? Us girls can dream, but we've got Riddle and Hartwell, much better than chasing after a professor that's probably too old for us." Mary cheerfully stated.

I was torn about my next action. I didn't want Mary to know (or to admit to myself) how far down the rabbit hole I was in terms of my feelings towards Newt. It may still not be an inappropriate crush, just lots of respect towards him. But I knew if I didn't speak up and ask what I was about to I would regret it later.

"Did he refer to you by first name, or let you call him by his first name?" I asked suddenly, not knowing any way of asking aside from being blunt.

"No, he didn't. He didn't refer to me by anything. He asked my name twice and introduced himself as Professor Scamander," Mary responded but then turned a little suspicious towards the end "Why? Does he call you by your first name a lot, or let you refer to him as Newt?"

"Of course not. Sometimes in class he might call me Victoria if asking me a question, but that's it. It would be highly inappropriate for a teacher to break teacher-student boundaries but I feel if he were to do it, it would be for you." I quickly retorted, lying through my teeth to cover my tracks, hiding the smile I wanted to display at Mary's revelation. He didn't even remember her name moments after she told him.

Mary's suspicion seemed to disappear and she smiled before changing the topic briefly before she bid me goodnight, saying she would seek out Andrew and have a few more dances with him.

Not too long later Tom joined me. Grabbing me by my shoulders he did his rounds of saying goodbye to everyone, when it came to Mary and Andrew he purposely ignored Andrew's existence and only said goodbye to Mary as we exited Slughorn's office and began our descent down to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room.

Tom was ahead of me, leading the way with our hands entwined. He however caught me off guard as one moment he was pulling me towards our destination, the next he had spun around and had lifted me off the ground, twirling me around and earning a loud giggle from me.

As he put my down I noticed something I had never seen from Tom before: a smile. I had seen him look amused previously and even a few smirks cross his face, but I had never seen him look happy and smile brightly. This is what he was doing right now, after showing me a sign of affection he looked happy. It made me smile also.

His outwardly happy look disappeared moments later as a serious look fell over his face. Without any warning he grabbed both of my shoulders and really dug his fingers in, before attaching his face to mine for a rough kiss. I wanted to pull away out of confusion, I hadn't known what was happening between Tom and I tonight.

I may not be the brightest witch but I knew the reason why Lestrange had acted so eerily in the common room earlier and had come to the party late was because of Tom. It was nice he had stopped my Slytherin bullies but it concerned me that he hadn't spoken to me about it first. Although he had also paid some attention to me tonight he appeared stand off-ish, and I don't think it was just because Andrew Hartwell was present at the party and had put him into a bad mood. His reaction to Newt dancing with me was odd as well – he seemed to be mad about it one second and then his anger disappeared straight away – did he really know about my inappropriate rising feelings for Newt? He hadn't paid me much attention tonight, in fact he spent more quality time with Mary than with me. Don't get me started on the Firewhiskey incident.

Therefore after a few moments of his rough kiss I pushed him away. I expected him to stagger in bewilderment of my sudden actions but instead it was almost as if he predicted my move and went in for another kiss, digging his nails into my shoulder even more forcefully and even going as far as to my bite my lip as we were lip locked.

I was now the one puzzled and didn't have any time to react. Before I could even attempt to manoeuvre myself out of Tom's tight grip a voice spoke up behind us.

"Good evening Victoria, Tom. Fancy seeing you out at this part of the castle at this time of night." Professor Dumbledore stated pleasantly, his hands behind his back as he walked towards us, the torches on the wall lighting up his frame.

"Good evening Professor." Tom said politely, quickly letting go of my hand in the process.

"I was actually on my way down to the dungeons. See, I find myself a little peckish and craving muggle boiled sweets. Our talented Muggle Studies professor taught me a potion that makes a very worthy replica, so I was about to go down to the dungeons to brew it up." Dumbledore explained, as we all began to shuffle and make our way down the castle.

I sent Dumbledore a genuine smile. Even though Slughorn was the head of the Slytherin house and Dumbledore was head of Gryffindor, I preferred Dumbledore over Slughorn. There was something about his presence that always made me feel safe, if I ever needed a teacher's advice I would always seek out Dumbledore.

"Victoria and I were thinking of a late night stroll, actually." Tom quickly stated, grabbing my hand and subtly pulling my form away from the deputy headmaster.

"I hate to be the voice of reason Tom but I would hate for you to get into trouble with Professor Dippet. Whilst you're allowed to roam the corridors after hours as Head Boy, unfortunately this privilege does not extend to Victoria. I must strongly recommend you to reconsider your moonlit walk." Dumbledore responded, sending a warning to Tom but sounded friendly as he did so, he was the only one who could pull that off.

"Yes, very well. Tori and I can continue our chat in the common room in that case." Tom said, his smirk disappearing but he was attempting to still sound polite towards Dumbledore.

"Don't let me stop you from having conversation." Dumbledore responded.

The next few minutes felt very awkward, as Tom and I made forced conversation in front of Dumbledore. It was the only time that I had felt uncomfortable in Dumbledore's presence, and I sensed that perhaps Dumbledore wasn't coincidentally in the same place at the same time as us – maybe he wasn't even here to get boiled sweets?

Tom began to speak about Transfiguration and Dumbledore joined in with random musings. We finally got to the corridor that led to the Slytherin common room and said goodbye to Dumbledore.

"Good night Tom, Victoria. It may not be against any rules to stay up all night in the common room but I would strongly advise against it." Dumbledore cautioned us with an odd smile on his face before walking off towards the dungeons.

Maybe he did want to make some boiled lollies after all.

Tom said the password to enter the common room and we both clambered through the entrance. As it was now fairly late the room was empty. I hesitantly stood up awkwardly, unsure of whether Tom wanted to spend some time together or wanted to go straight to bed. Even I didn't know what I wanted, I felt a little mad at Tom on how the night had unfolded but wasn't sure whether I had the right to be upset or not.

"Come on, take a seat with me Tori. Let's talk." Tom said as he pat the seat next to him, taking a seat on the couch next to the fire.

I reluctantly took the seat next to him.

"Something has been bothering you for a while. Would you like to share?" Tom asked me, turning to face me with a very serious look on his face.

I stuttered a little as I was unsure whether I should mention anything. His intense gaze was making me feel nervous and it was also making me second guess whether I was reasonable to be upset or not.

I decided to speak up and get this over and done with so it wouldn't be a problem again.

"Tonight was great, it was lovely meeting people from other houses. I'm just a bit confused about a few things though." I mentioned.

Tom frowned a little but didn't say anything, he was giving me room to continue on.

"I felt you were a little...distant. You only danced with me once and you seemed a lot closer to Mary Figglestill than you were with me, you also didn't seem to hate the fact you had to dance with her. Then you forced Firewhiskey onto me, but then abandoned me to speak with some of your friends. I got a very hot and cold vibe from you." I stated.

Tom then began to chuckle and it annoyed me for a moment until he spoke up.

"I think you're a little jealous of Mary Figglestill and it's put you in a bad mood, so you were sensitive to things that normally wouldn't annoy you." Tom explained.

I crossed my arms in annoyance but gave him the same courtesy he had given me not too long ago and allowed him to continue with his explanation.

"You said it yourself, it was a good night. You did the same as I did, departed from me temporarily to speak to others. The Firewhiskey incident is merely being blown out of proportion – it was a suggestion. You seemed to like it, you went back for more." Tom continued on.

"I-er, well..." I stammered out.

Dammit, what he was saying made sense. The Head Girl and Head Boy dance happened towards the start of the night and thus my foul mood and insecurities started right at the start. It made sense that these negative emotions would affect how the rest of the night went.

"I must say that I like that you feel jealous. It means you're protective of me, the same way I am about you." Tom said, a very handsome grin appearing over his face.

I turned to give him my full attention and to look into his eyes as his statement caught me a little off guard. He used this opportunity to woo me further.

"I am absolutely crazy about you, Tori. You drive me wild. No other girl before you has managed to stir such utter desire deep inside of me, and I doubt any other girl will be able to." Tom stated.

I shot him a sceptical look as he gently caressed my face. I didn't have to speak up about this, as he already knew what my doubts were about.

"As for Mary Figglestill, between you and me – I've never been able to stand the girl. She's boisterous and too thirsty for attention. I stay civil to her as we share duties as Head Boy and Head Girl, but I certainly don't enjoy her company." He explained.

A wide smile appeared on my face. He had done it, he had won me over. I now knew there were no feelings between Tom and Mary, both had informed me of this tonight. It also cheered me up that Tom thought Mary was boring – perhaps Newt felt the same? I now also felt a little guilty for my silent dislike of Mary, she was nothing but kind towards me.

I was expecting more hungry kisses from Tom tonight as he had been having trouble keeping his hands off me when no one was around. But instead I was caught off guard when he gently put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me towards him so I would be leaning on him.

We were silent like this for a while, he would sometimes run his hands through my hair or hold my hand. He then began to speak up, and we started to have a few deep and meaningful conversations.

He told me about his childhood and how he had grown up in a muggle orphanage. He said as terrible as it was it could have been worse – there are muggle orphanages out there where the children are beaten, starved, locked up and generally tortured. He told me how he ended up there because his mother gave birth there before dying – and how his father was also deceased.

After that topic he told me about how two years ago he caught the offender that had opened the Chamber of Secrets – the third year rather large Gryffindor boy. He confessed to me he did it to ensure the school did not close down and not to be a hero and he wasn't prepared for the glory that came with winning a Special Services to the School award.

He then asked me about my upbringing. I told him about how I was outcast by the Black family for having a Veela mother – I was allowed to remain on the outskirts of their social circles but would forever be tarnished a half-blood. Tom kissed me at this revelation and comforted me about this dilemma.

It felt nice finally having someone to talk to about it. We were in the common room until the early hours of the morning talking and we both dozed off in each other's arms.

Unfortunately for me I did not wake up before the other students. I awoke to Drucilla making a snide remark, I missed exactly what it was as my groggy eyes began to open. Tom was long gone and had managed to manoeuvre himself from our embrace without waking me. Thinking it was sweet he wanted to make sure I got more rest I made my way down to my dormitory so I could get a bit more sleep before facing the day.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry updates have been slow lately, and just a heads up, they'll be slow for the next two weeks. I've got so much going on at the moment - I work a pretty grueling full time job that I've had to put a bit of overtime in at the moment. Add an important exam in two weeks and wedding planning, things are a bit hectic. On the bright side though after exams I won't have any study for a while and I'm also taking annual leave from work around then so I plan to pump out some updates.**

 **In response to the reviews-**

 **Kavernista - unfortunately the manipulations will continue even though this chapter puts a stop to some (you'll see what I mean soon!) but at least this chapter is paving the way for more Newt, which I think we can all celebrate :)**

 **Guest - I am honoured you re-read my stories - and I re-read your reviews regularly :) Even though I write Mary's character I can't decide whether I like her or not either! Tori is a sweet, sensitive and naive type so I think she reads too much into what Mary says but at the same time Mary is a smart girl who accidentally blurt things out not realising how they sound, which is a bit rude. As for your comments about Newt - all will be revealed in good time, some of which will be coming very, VERY soon (i.e. next chapter).**

 **AnadoraBlack - Thanks for your reviews as always. I feel good that Riddle makes you feel that way, that's my intentions. We as the readers fall for the manipulations a bit but still are sceptical as hell of him. In all honestly I'm just glad that message is coming across - therefore you can see Riddle isn't out of character when he does the sweet/charming stuff, it's just part of his manipulation act.**

 **CarlyLynn - Once again thanks for your words of encouragement. It's really sweet and means a lot to me. Thank you xx**

* * *

It had been two weeks since the Slug Club party, and to say I was a little confused was a little bit of an understatement. I had barely spoken to Tom in that time. After I woke up alone on the couch (and endured a lot of light teasing from my fellow Slytherins) I attempted to sit next to Tom at breakfast but he was sitting with his group of friends and said we would talk later, refusing to make room for me.

Later that same night he was still with his friends and didn't acknowledge me as I returned to the common room. There were three whole days of this behaviour from him until I finally confronted him during our Transfiguration lesson where I sat next to him and asked why he was avoiding me.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tori. I understand I've been a little distant lately. Things are just really stressful with my Head Boy duties, as well as N.E.W.T exam preparation." He explained, before we lightly chatted in-between demonstrations from Dumbledore.

I was a little sceptical of this revelation. But that same day I came across Mary Figglestill and Andrew Hartwell hand-in-hand in the corridor and stopped for a quick chat. Mary asked me if Tom was okay, apparently even at prefect meetings he was distracted and not his usual social self – to which Andrew made a sarcastic comment at Tom's expense.

Therefore I felt a little better that he was being distant with others and it wasn't just towards me.

However I was now getting a little sick of it, and I was also a little hurt. I had previously told him I felt he was being a little too hot-and-cold towards me and he assured me he didn't mean to be like that and assured me that he really liked me. I had also poured my heart out to him in our chat and he did the same, and now he was being lukewarm towards me. It wasn't a nice feeling, it almost made me feel really stupid for believing him.

This is why I was surprised when he approached me as I was seated at a table in the common room doing Herbology homework.

"Tori, would you accompany me on a walk around the castle?" he asked me formally.

My face went red as the same inadequate feelings rose inside me that would always appear at the beginning of his courtship. It felt as if it had been so long without his company that my growing strength had reset and once again I felt like that awkward girl that wasn't good enough for the handsome and charming Tom Riddle.

"S-sure." I stuttered, as I accepted his hand to help me up and packed my books up quickly.

I saw every eye in the common room on us, everyone must have also noticed Tom and I hadn't been very close these past two weeks. I ignored them as we left them all behind, finding ourselves in the corridor.

I looked at Tom expectantly. Usually when we left the common room together and found ourselves alone he would latch onto me suddenly and not let me go for a while. I shouldn't have predicted this based on how odd he had been towards me these past two weeks – perhaps it was wishful thinking but I was surprised Tom didn't kiss me passionately. I may have had the courage two weeks ago to kiss him myself, but once again his intense demeanour made me feel shy and meek.

"Come on, let's go somewhere we won't be interrupted." Tom said as he took a few paces in an attempt to further lead me away from the entrance of the common room.

This was when I realised something was different. I knew something was going on his head that was causing him to push me away (stress from his duties perhaps?) but it was at that moment I suspected things would not go back to the way they were beforehand. Tom would always grab my hand where possible, sometimes I thought he perhaps did not realise he was doing so. But tonight this was not the case – in this instance he wanted me to follow him based on his body language and not by his gentle touch. This was very out of character for him, and I also had no clue what our night time stroll was for – it clearly wasn't to pick up where we left off at our deep talk two weeks ago.

We began to walk in silence and it was the first time in a very long time I had felt uncomfortable in Tom's presence. I felt the tension was so thick in the air it could be sliced with a knife – did Tom feel this uncomfortable? Did he feel the tension?

"I really am sorry I haven't been there for you recently. I've still been keeping a watch over you, and made sure no one has been causing you grief. I will always do this for you. I hope you know that." Tom said once we reached a very secluded corridor, and for the first time in a long time he showed me affection by holding my hand and looking deep into my eyes as he did so.

"I-I believe you." I automatically stammered out, matching his gaze with my own nervous smile, looking into his eyes as well.

"Which is why what I'm about to do is possibly the most difficult thing I have ever had to face, and I haven't exactly lived a plain life." Tom mentioned, a very rare smile forming across his face but for the first time ever I felt I could read him – I could see that smile did not contain an ounce of happiness.

I frowned at this revelation as I didn't know what Tom was trying to say. Tom took the most difficult subjects at school. He was Head Boy and found himself in very complex situations regularly, his most impressive achievement was probably tracking down what had killed that girl two years ago. So why was his most difficult task what he was about to tell me? What was going on?

He sighed and ran a hand through his neat hair. I bit my lip as I saw his hair turn dishevelled – it made him look even more good looking, even though I didn't think that was possible. Being in his close presence again made my heart go wild, my teenage feelings going crazy.

"I see a future with you Tori. I really do, I hope one day I will go down on one knee and ask you the most important question I will ever ask in a lifetime, and have the word 'yes' come from your beautiful lips." Tom mentioned.

I wanted to squeal in delight, I really did. If Tom had said that in any other context I would have outwardly expressed my happiness. Even though I wasn't the brightest witch I could tell Tom wasn't trying to be charming to make me delighted. He was going somewhere with this and it wasn't meant to be joyous. I was too sceptical to react positively to what Tom had just stated.

"That's why I'm doing what I'm about to do. In order to one day be a perfect husband for you, I need to work hard with my studies now. If I work really hard now, I'll be able to provide for you and our family later on." Tom said, still looking into my eyes as he brought a hand up to my face and stroked the side of it affectionately.

I took a step back. I was already hurt and confused by what was being said even though Tom had barely began to scrape the surface. I wasn't enjoying this situation being dragged out and I wanted him to just spit it out and put an end to this confusion.

"What are you trying to say, Tom?" I asked him coolly, the first time I had ever spoken to him in such a cold manner.

He was silent for a few moments but then eventually spoke and finally came out with what he was trying to say.

"In order to be the best husband and provider for you, I need to free myself from distractions now. You're so stunningly beautiful, I always find my mind wandering to you. If I see less of you for now, I might be able to clear my mind a little to focus on both my duties and my studies." Tom responded.

"So you don't want to see me anymore?" I asked sharply, attempting to get Tom to conclude what he had to say. I didn't want to be in this dark corridor with him anymore, I honestly just wanted to go to bed and be sad.

Tom hesitated. It was another first – I had never seen him squirm. No matter how flirty or seductive I had tried to be he always seemed to keep his cool. But now he almost seemed guilty, he was gaping and hesitating when he went to answer. It was very strange for Tom Riddle. I didn't know whether to feel sorry that this conversation was making him act odd or whether to be happy calling off this courtship was just as upsetting to him as it was to me.

"It would only be a temporary arrangement, until the end of school. I know this is a shock to you and doesn't excuse how I have been treating you the last two weeks. But I promise to you from the bottom of my heart I can give myself over to you completely at the end of the year." Tom added on.

We were silent for a while. He was still looking into my eyes deeply and touching the side of my face. I on the other hand had no idea what look I was shooting Tom. I was feeling hurt and confused even before Tom had even said he didn't want to see me anymore. Now I felt completely numb. I almost felt relief – now things were over I would no longer have to worry about him and not making a fool of myself in front of him. No more worrying about whether I was good enough or not – or whether he still liked me. Even though these thoughts were swimming around in my head I still couldn't bring myself to feel joy. I didn't feel anything.

"I want to go back to my dormitory." I finally spoke out loud, once again taking a step away from Tom.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he didn't attempt to reach out to me again. He clearly didn't get the response from me that he was expecting. I didn't even know what he was hoping I would say, nor did I know what I was supposed to feel.

"Okay. I'll accompany you back. But just think about my proposal. It's essentially not a break-up, but a hiatus. It's an investment into our future. I'll wait for you, if you wait for me." Tom said as we began to trudge back to the Slytherin dungeons.

"I didn't know we were together to begin with." I piped up, meaning to sound neutral but I could hear myself sound a little defensive after my statement came out.

I saw Tom frown once more. I wasn't sure whether Tom was letting emotions get the best of him or whether I was starting to know him more, but I felt I was now able to read him a lot easier. I could tell he was unimpressed with these turn of events but to be honest so was I. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing, or saying. I felt quite awkward.

"Yes, well. It's been a very emotional discussion. We will speak about this at a later date when we are both more clearheaded. Good evening, Victoria." Tom said stiffly as we gave the password to get into the Common Room and parted ways.

For weeks I had been confused about the relationship growing between Tom and I. I had no idea whether we were together – or his feelings for me. I didn't know where our relationship was heading and over the last two weeks I had been perplexed at the lack of communication from Tom. Even though every single one of those questions had been answered tonight (some now in retrospect) I still felt even more bewildered.

I sighed as I flopped onto my four poster bed and shut the curtains. I felt like I wanted to cry myself to sleep but the tears wouldn't come, so instead I was reduced to letting my mind run wild, and play the night's events over and over into my mind, until I would eventually drift into sleep.

* * *

I sighed as I leaned against the pillars of the entrance to the castle, sitting on the stone steps. It was a Hogsmeade visit day but after the bombshell that Tom had dropped on me the previous night, I didn't feel like going. I attempted to sleep in but Beatrice woke me up thinking I had overslept. I told her I wasn't feeling well and would be staying back and soon I was left alone.

I thought all I needed was to sleep it off and things would feel much better and clearer in the morning. But I still felt as jaded as I did last night. I attempted to do homework in the common room as it was empty aside from a few stray first and second years, but I found it too hard to concentrate.

My mind still felt blank, but my emotions felt completely flat. I wasn't depressed or upset, but my mood overall was impassive towards the situation. I didn't feel myself – I was usually positive and upbeat so I decided to rug up and sit outside to get some fresh air.

It was as I was sitting outside on the steps I heard a scuttling noise. I ignored it to begin with but as I heard it get closer I jumped up and pointed my wand outwards. The source of the noises revealed itself as it scuttled towards me.

"Watch out!" A voice came from behind the creature hurling towards me.

Without hesitation I was able to identify exactly what the creature was – a Fire Crab, we learned about those in Care of the Magical Creatures in fourth year. I also remembered exactly how to stop one in its tracks.

"Rictusempra!" I shouted with a small wave of my wand, a jet of silver light coming out of my wand, knocking the crab over.

The source of the voice came to a skidding halt, a large cage being thrown over the crab. The size of the cage was massive and any normal person would have trouble carrying it, but the boy carrying it was rather large himself. I recognised him as the gamekeeper's (whose name was Ogg) assistant, the one that Tom got expelled two years ago. His name was Hagrid, I had spoken to him a few times after he was expelled, we spoke about creatures and beasts as he was the gamekeeper's assistant he had access to quite a few and he was just as passionate on the subject as I was.

I didn't know much about what happened when Hagrid was expelled, we regular students were not told much. All we knew was that a girl died and a beast was involved. I had never asked Hagrid about it as we hadn't spoken much aside the occasional hello, and I certainly wasn't confident enough to ask Tom about his biggest achievement when he was so modest about it. I could tell he didn't ever want to talk about it, he had never even hinted in conversation as to what happened. But from what I could gather it was all a big misunderstanding. I assumed Hagrid didn't know his beast was volatile and dangerous and although he didn't mean to bring in a beast that would harm humans, unfortunately his beast killed that girl. Therefore I wasn't afraid of him.

"Lucky yeh were there Victoria, would 'ave had ter have a very interestin' conversation with Ogg if that crab got a student." Hagrid cheerfully stated as he manhandled the Fire Crab into the heavy duty cage he had brought.

"You were the one behind it, you would have been the one blasted by its flames. It's a bit rude they come out of the rear end, but that's where they come from." I weakly smiled, Hagrid's cheerful manner making me feel a little better.

Before Hagrid could speak up I saw Newt running towards us, skidding to a halt moments from crashing into me. He held onto me for dear life, letting go of me once he steadied himself and he looked at me in shock.

"It's Hogsmeade weekend. Why are you here?" Newt asked me, ignoring whatever he was panicking about moments before he ran into me.

"Long story." I mumbled, finding it inappropriate to air my dirty laundry in front of someone I didn't know very well, as well as not wanting to mention anything about Tom in front of the boy who he got expelled.

"Professor Scamander, Victoria here caught the crab, yeh can go back to yeh duties." Hagrid said enthusiastically to Newt.

"What have I told you Rubeus? You're a member of faculty. Please call me Newt," Newt smiled to Hagrid but then turned to me "Victoria is very talented, I don't doubt for a second she didn't break a sweat whilst stopping that Fire Crab."

"I um-well. Fire Crabs are pretty easy to identify – their jewel shells give them away. It's why they're protected from Muggles, Muggles would want to harvest them for their shells, the same way they do with non-protected species such as elephants. With creatures that have hard shells you need to think outside the box a little as they are hard to stun – a tickling charm seemed a good way to stun the creature enough to get it back into its cage." I stammered out to begin with feeling a little shy as I wasn't used to being complimented on academic knowledge, but became confident by the end.

"Well you saved Hagrid's behind, he saw me on my stroll around the grounds and asked for my help to catch a Fire Crab on the run so I went searching for it, also intending to knock it with the tickling charm to temporarily stun the crab so we could get it back into its cage. Therefore, I have to award ten points to Slytherin for your help." Newt declared.

This made me feel better. Not just a tad better – but it made me beam. Newt had effortlessly managed to pull me from my slump and bring me back to life. I wasn't sure whether it was because he made me feel intelligent and adequate or just because he was Newt and had a sweet and cheery charm to him, but I now felt like myself again. All because of him.

"Once again thanks Victoria and Newt, yeh saved me from gettin' in trouble with Ogg. I'll see yeh both around." Hagrid politely said to Newt and I, effortlessly hoisting the large cage onto his shoulders and walking off back onto the school grounds, turning a corner and going out of sight.

"Now that we're alone, will you tell me why you didn't fancy going to Hogsmeade? I thought for sure that boyfriend of yours would have loved for you to accompany him." Newt asked me, putting two hands on my shoulders as he looked into my face, worry sketched across his own.

I debated for a moment on whether I should tell him or not. But then I decided I should just do it. Newt and I were friends…sort of. He'd most likely hear about it from someone once the news spread through the school. Considering I had overheard Slughorn gossiping about us once, it seemed even teachers would most likely hear the news.

"He's not my boyfriend. I know I've told you that before, but uh, he's now not my boyfriend more than ever." I attempted to explain, my face reddening as I started to feel really embarrassed to be speaking about this topic with a teacher, not realising I wasn't making any sense.

"I'm sorry, I don't get you." Newt responded, and I could see he was very curious about what I was trying to say.

"He was never my boyfriend. But um, he called things off. He said I was too distracting and he wants to focus on his studies. This is what I mean by he's now not my boyfriend more so than ever, because things are over." I weakly smiled, the happiness that Newt had made me feel before was draining rapidly as I felt incompetent and silly again as the fresh memories of Tom dumping me replayed in my mind.

"Oh," Newt said in shock, removing his hands from my shoulders as I could see he wasn't expecting me to say this, before he sent a small smile my way "Say, it's too cold to be out here. It's also too much of a shame for you to be all alone on a Hogsmeade weekend. Why don't you come to my office for tea? We can talk about what happened if you want, or not talk about it. You decide."


	13. Chapter 13

**It's been a while... sorry. You should like this chapter, for reasons I don't want to give away. However in this chapter we can finally understand why Tori is a true Slytherin. She's a tad selfish when faced with difficult conversations, and we finally see she can be a bit cunning and manipulative when she's pushed too far.**

 **In response to the reviews:**

 **badholt: Thank you so much! Your review reinforces what message I've been trying to spread so you seriously have no idea how much your review means to me. Thank you.**

 **Guest: Tori is a Slytherin. Her grand daughter Vicki (who has the same name as her, so it's a bit confusing) is a Ravenclaw. Sorry if it's a bit unclear/confusing!**

 **AnadoraBlack: Thanks for the continued support! It may not become obvious for a while but like everything Tom does, there was a purpose :P**

 **The Original Guest (OG - haha)/Guest B: Firstly apologies for referring to you as 'Guest B' - I just wanted to be clear in the other story I was referring to YOU because quite frankly you're amazing! I hope you liked this chapter, there's lots of Newt goodness - and Tom the bastard getting put into his place hehe.**

 **Kavernista - I wish we could all have tea with Newt in his office, alone. I guess we'd have to share but it'd be totes worth it!**

 **Aselye - Thank you so much for really kind words, it means so much to me. I appreciate your support and that you enjoy my story. Your English is great by the way, better than most native speakers.**

 **Guest: Thank you for the honest feedback, I really do appreciate that you'd take the time to leave a review to help me improve rather than just click out of a story you didn't enjoy. I've re-read my story to see what you were referring to and I understand completely. I've written this chapter with your feedback in mind.**

* * *

I had never really thought about what Newt's office would look like, but for some reason it was exactly how I would have imagined it. There were papers and books scattered around everywhere untidily, and many different trinkets cluttering his office. He had a creature in a cage in the corner next to a briefcase, and many different types of animal food stacked on things, many of which were threatening to topple over menacingly.

I stood at the entrance awkwardly, unsure of what to do with myself. There was a chair next to his own on his desk but it was piled with parchment a metre high.

"I don't usually have students in here, so excuse the mess. I usually only come in here to sleep, really." Newt stated with a small smile on his face as he scrambled to move stuff off the chair, first using his hands but then he must have realised he could do it with magic as seconds later he grabbed his wand and made the flyaway parchments disappear off his desk and chair.

I smiled back and sat down at the empty chair once everything had been moved off of it. Newt then went and began to make tea at a small kitchenette to the side of his office. There was silence between us as the kettle boiled on top of the fire he had made, but it was a pleasant silence. I couldn't be sure what was going through Newt's head especially as he wasn't even facing me at this point. I wasn't even completely sure what was going through mine. All I could think about was that this was the most lively I felt over these past two weeks, even though Tom called things off last night. That didn't seem to matter anymore.

"Hagrid seems like a nice boy. It's a shame what happened." I blurted out, wanting to make conversation and this was the first thing that entered my head as we had just seen Hagrid.

Newt turned around to give me a quick glance and I guessed it was to read my body language. After his quick look he went back to pouring the tea and milk into the cups and bought them over.

"Do you think Hagrid was innocent?" Newt asked me, his voice sounding polite even though it was a dark topic we were chatting about.

"Um, I don't know all the facts so I can't say. He seems like a gentle soul though, so I'm guessing no matter what happened it was all unintentional, or a big misunderstanding…" I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with the topic and immediately regretted bringing it up.

"You too have a very gentle soul, Tori. I've noticed that the creatures I bring in class always take a shining to you. They always know, you see. They can sense it." Newt gushed.

I had no idea on whether he was using the turn of conversation as an excuse to compliment me as I was feeling down about what had happened with Tom or whether it was something that popped into his brain after the comment I made. It didn't matter, Newt had high praise for me and that's all I cared about right now. I was about to pay a compliment back but he spoke up again and I was unable to do so.

"It was Riddle who uncovered it all with Hagrid, yes? He's supposed to be highly intelligent and motivated, yet he let you go." Newt added on.

He was laying the compliments on thick. It was nice. He had always been friendly towards me and had as time had gone on become more confident in saying things to me he probably shouldn't have as a teacher. But this was a whole new level. I could have spent time worrying about the intention and the inappropriate nature of Newt's words. Was he attempting to be charming or was it an attempt to cheer me up? Could he be sacked for this – or get in trouble from his wife?

"He um, said some things to me as he called things off. He gave a proper explanation on why." I quickly mentioned.

"I'll admit, I'm very curious to hear the full story." Newt responded, sounding very interested.

I took a deep breath and smiled. It was a long story so I prepared myself, and also tried to remember the parts where I could shorten it a little. I couldn't believe I was about to tell a teacher about my love life and how the boy I liked dumped me. But then I realised I was talking to Newt as a friend and not as my teacher, and then I eased and I was able to begin the story.

I briefly told Newt about my interactions with Tom prior to this year – how we would sometimes stop and say hello in the common room or in the corridors but aside from that we barely interacted. But then I mentioned about how on the train ride to school this year he shooed Andrew Hartwell away from me (before Andrew and I became friends), and how he had been protecting me from Rangvald Lestrange this year, as well as any other Slytherin that tried to challenge me due to my mother's Veela genes. I spoke about the nice things Tom did for me, the chivalrous things such as opening doors and giving me his blazer when I was cold but also the things such as helping me with my homework and sometimes even just lending me a sympathetic ear.

"Sorry, I'm gushing too much, you don't care." I eventually stated, after realising how much of the story I had given away and how Newt had been quiet for a while.

"I was the one who asked." Newt stated, smiling weakly as he did.

Newt's demeanour had changed as I went through my story. He was usually gentle and polite and could sometimes be quite chatty when discussing something of interest to him. But at some points of my story where I slipped out where Tom could be quite manipulative Newt seemed mad, at some points even speaking up in protest of what Tom had done. At the end though where I said Tom had romantically sacrificed our growing relationship for a better future for our potential family – Newt grew sympathetic.

"So you've told me the story. But you haven't told me how you're feeling." Newt stated.

I stopped for a moment. How was I feeling? I had let the events of the previous two weeks swim around my head non-stop for so long I hadn't really stopped to explore my emotions. I had been feeling flat – but that wasn't an emotion. Was I sad that Tom and I would no longer let a relationship develop? Was I angry at how things had ended? Would I be happy that I could now try with someone more genuine? I previously thought I was relieved that I no longer had to stress about keeping perfect Tom Riddle interested in me but hadn't even pondered I could feel more than one emotion.

"I'm…I'm feeling a few things. But honestly, I'm not too choked up about it. It's a silly little school girl fling that didn't develop into anything. Nothing was really invested, I didn't love the boy. I more feel like I should be sad about it because that's how I'm supposed to feel." I admitted, a wide smile appearing upon my face.

For the first time in a while I felt free at the release of these words. I felt like myself – fun, free spirited and I could go back to being carefree and invested in studying creatures. Saying what I had said out loud to Newt seemed to make it official and let it finally sink in.

"Your attitude has changed in the past hour you've been here. You seemed a little down when I first stumbled across you today, but look at you now." Newt acknowledged as he gestured towards me.

For the first time I was in Newt's company, I didn't know what to say. The gravity of the situation had hit me. I felt better, but it was because my teacher had cheered me up on a very intimate level. It now seemed so wrong.

"We're friends, right? Not just a student and teacher. This is something that friends would discuss. I'm not so pathetic I'm talking to a teacher who really doesn't care in this case, am I?" I weakly smiled.

Newt frowned when I said this, and said nothing but got out of his chair. He came to kneel down in front of me and grabbed my hands quickly.

"I can assure you that you are already a very dear friend to me. I hate to see my friends in pain which is why I've had you come to my office today. In fact there is one last thing I'd like to show you. Perhaps it may make you feel better about your situation." Newt said to me and as we were so close I could see the sincerity in his eyes.

"Okay. Show me." I responded.

Newt sprang up and went back to his side of the desk. He opened one of the drawers and some bats popped out and flew out. I jumped in shock as I wasn't expecting bats to fly at me but when my vision became clear again I noticed a piece of parchment that had been placed in front of me.

"Read it. Tell me what you think." Newt smiled, and I could see a tinge of sadness in his smile.

I shot him an inquisitive look but decided it was faster to read what was on the parchment than it would have been to interrogate him on what I was looking for.

I looked down and gasped at what I saw.

 _Application to dissolve the marriage between Newton Scamander and Porpentina Scamander (nee Goldstein)_

"Application to dissolve marriage? What does that mean?" I asked Newt, even though I knew what the answer was. I wanted to hear it from him.

"Tina and I are getting a divorce, it seems. We've been separated for a while, but it looks like it's going to become formal. We have been discussing it for a while but this week she sent me the parchment to make it official." Newt informed me.

I knew I perhaps should have felt uneasy that our conversation had turned this serious. Moments ago I felt uncomfortable of the fact I was discussing my silly school sweetheart breakup with Newt. Now he was talking about his divorce of his wife he had been with for many years. Perhaps they had been together longer than I had been alive, but I didn't want to think about that.

I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Divorce was absolutely unheard of, I couldn't think of a single couple I knew of who had actually gone through with it. Therefore I had no idea what to say to Newt. I wasn't intelligent, I couldn't say something smart to take the pain away. All I could do was lead by example and ask Newt the exact same questions he asked me not too long ago.

"Sounds like a very brief way of telling the story. Now Mr Scamander I must ask you what you asked me. How are you feeling?" I asked him, feeling a little nervous at how serious the conversation had turned.

"I've never been very good at expressing my emotions to anyone but my creatures." Newt admitted, and I could see a slight red tinge appear across his cheeks.

I wanted to point out that this could perhaps be a reason why his marriage had broken down but I stayed silent, not wanting to be rude. Due to my silence Newt continued on.

"I don't know how I feel. It doesn't feel like anything has changed. Tina and I never spent a lot of time together during our marriage. I spend a lot of my time travelling and studying creatures further, and she spends a good chunk of her time chasing after dark wizards. I'm used to being away from her. Therefore I'm still waiting for it to feel different." Newt admitted to me.

I nodded as he spoke to me. I didn't know what else to say. I was hoping the more Newt would open up about it the more would enter my own head and the words of comfort would come to me. They didn't. So I was stuck nodding like an idiot.

"But it will happen," Newt quickly stated in my silence, clearing his throat awkwardly before he quickly changed the topic "Anyway, enough being sad and pathetic about things outside of our control. How are you finding my subject?"

I felt relieved as he did so. I should have felt glad my silly teen romance was now not being spoken about, but instead I was happy I didn't have to offer comfort to Newt. What he was saying was too intense for me, I could not handle the seriousness of his predicament.

We spent the rest of the hour talking about his subject. Every time he brought the topic back onto himself (usually on topic of a creature he would mention his travels) I quickly changed it back to school related topics. Whether he got the hint or whether he grew bored I'm not sure, but we began to struggle to find something to talk about.

"Well, thanks for letting me visit. It was nice not to have to sit lonely in the common room with only first and second years to keep me company." I said to Newt as I gulped the last of my tea in a less than classy manner and quickly jumped up from my seat.

"Oh…you're leaving." Newt observed, not a hint of curiousity in his voice.

"Yeah. Dinner will be served fairly soon and I want to wash up a little before I head to the Entrance Hall." I responded, and began to slowly inch my way towards the front of his office.

"That makes sense then. Have I accomplished my goal in cheering you up?" Newt asked me with a smile on his face as he looked up at me through his hair.

I only took a moment to think about his question.

"Yeah," I smiled brightly as I paused for a second with my hand on the door as I turned to face him "Yeah, you did. I feel lots better. Thank you, sir."

The word 'sir' slipped out. Although he had given me permission to use his first name it didn't feel appropriate to use it right now. He did lift my spirits but I wanted to re-establish a proper student and teacher relationship between us right now so I wouldn't hold the burden of cheering him up the same way. It was selfish, but it was how I felt.

I still had my hand on the door to his office and I was about to slip through when he spoke up again.

"Don't be upset for me. I know you'd offer the correct words if you could." Newt stated with a sad smile.

I turned back towards him and gave him a small grimace. He had seen directly through me and my less than helpful actions towards his own problems. I felt terrible but he was right – I wanted so badly to be able to do what he had done for me. But I wasn't able to.

"I…uh…" I stammered out, unsure of how to respond.

"Really, it's okay Tori. That's who you are. A sweet girl, but you have a few things holding you back. That's fine. The fact you would clear away my problems and ill feelings if you could means more to me than you realise." Newt smiled brightly.

I didn't respond but mirrored his smile as I finally headed out and began my way back to the Slytherin common rooms so I could prepare myself for dinner.

The first thing I thought of was Newt's caring nature and how awkward he sounded when he said I had a few things holding me back. It could be considered a rude thing to say, but Newt said a lot of things that could have been interpreted as rude without realising.

But then I really thought about what he had said.

For years I had always wondered why I was sorted into Slytherin and not Hufflepuff. I always assumed it was my heritage, that no matter who I was as a person I would always belong to the Slytherin house due to the fact that I was a member of the Black family. But a simple statement from Newt was giving me a sense of belonging.

I had good qualities alongside my Slytherin qualities – it was possible to be a good person and a Slytherin, the two weren't mutually exclusive.

Not only had Newt made me feel better about the breakup with Tom this afternoon, he had also made me feel like a better person. It was unfortunate I could not feel Newt feel the same empowerment he had given me this afternoon but I would not let Newt's good deed towards me go to waste.

After giving the password to the Slytherin common room and heading in I saw Tom surrounded by his gang sitting on the couches that everyone always wanted to sit on. My three dorm mates were sitting nearby, two of them jumping up as soon as I had entered.

"Riddle has just broken the news to all that you two are more. Your protection now has a finite life. Enjoy it while it lasts." Drucilla cruelly cackled towards me, before she skipped out of the common room to head up to dinner.

Beatrice stopped in front of me. I expected her to follow Drucilla's lead, or to ignore me. After all, before my relationship with Riddle my friendship with her did not exist. I was expecting the demise of our relationship to wind back the clock and kill our friendship.

But this did not happen.

"It must be very hard, Riddle was quite the catch. We will get together later and work out how you can lure him back in." Beatrice weakly smiled putting her hand on my shoulder sympathetically.

I only sent her a weak smile back to convince her to remove it and move along. The last thing I wanted was to be told I had let Tom 'get away' and I had no intention of working hard to get him back.

As Beatrice made her way out of the common room and out of my line of sight I caught Tom looking at us. He had his usual smirk across his face – a smirk I used to find attractive but now only found dreadful.

I was planning on avoiding Tom as much as possible until it stopped hurting me to see him. The strange thing was that I was no longer feeling upset about the situation. Newt may have just made me feel numb and I may end up still hurting in the near future, but for now I felt absolutely fine.

Finding my new confidence and sense of belonging I felt I had to tell Tom something. The previous night he spoke at me. It wasn't a discussion between two people. I was now going to have my say.

"Hello, Riddle." I greeted Tom using a neutral tone.

"Now Tori, no need to revert back to last name basis. You know I still care for you deeply." Tom responded.

"I still care about you too, Tom. However I have come to tell you that unfortunately I cannot agree to your terms and I will not be able to passively wait for you." I stated to Tom, finishing my sentence with a firm nod of my head.

I noticed that sitting next to Tom was Lestrange, and his face had twisted into rage. He opened his mouth to shout obscenities towards me but Tom firmly put his hand on his shoulder as a warning for him to be quiet.

"What do you mean by that?" Tom asked and I could tell he was trying very hard to remain cool and not get heated at my revelation. Tom Riddle hated losing control and although he was the one who called things off between us, I was still able to have the upper-hand after all and I knew this would annoy him greatly.

"I just mean that I cannot predict the future and how this year will conclude. How can I promise myself to you in good faith when I don't know where this year will lead me?" I responded using a matter-of-fact tone.

Tom was silent for a moment as he studied my face carefully. I thought he was potentially thinking of what to say next and that I had left him speechless however I was giving myself far too much credit – instead he was analysing me.

He dropped his smirk for a flash second but moments later it re-appeared as he spoke up.

"Well quite frankly Tori if you do not wish to commit to me that's completely your prerogative. But lend me one courtesy and answer this question – do you now have your eyes set on somebody else?" Tom enquired and I could see he was trying his hardest to not turn his smirk into a snarl.

It was a loaded question – one that I could have spent a lot of time thinking about. However I felt I did not need to dawdle in my response as I knew what to say.

"As I just told you Tom, I can't know for certain. We're barely a quarter through the seventh and final year of school. There's still so many things that can happen," I winked to Tom before turning my back to him, not even bothering to see how enraged this would make him "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to freshen up before dinner."


	14. Chapter 14

The next week seemed to go very slowly. On Saturday the biggest Quiddich game of the year would take place – Gryffindor vs Slytherin. The Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry was the strongest in the school, and the Quiddich games were always very intense.

Unfortunately for me I didn't care too much for Quiddich. I could respect my peer's passions for the sport and appreciate the school spirit that was involved, but I had not been to a game since my third year at school.

I wasn't planning on ending my attendance drought. However this was all about to change.

It was on Friday when I left the lunch table early. I was seated with Beatrice and another boarder im my dorm – Cordula. Drucilla had chosen to not sit with us and instead was seated on the other end of the table with Rangvald Lestrange. That pair had been spending a lot of time together and I had guessed they were bonding over their mutual hatred of me.

I hadn't spoken to Tom since the weekend when I said I had no plans to wait for him. I had no idea whether he was still telling fellow Slytherins to leave me alone or not, however Drucilla and Lestrange had yet to bother me.

Beatrice was still obsessed with helping me win back Tom, and she had even recruited Cordula to continually discuss this with me. By lunch on Friday I was tired of it and so I informed them I was going to make myself more decent and then excused myself from the table to get some peace and quiet.

As I exited the Great Hall, I was stopped by Mary Figglestill in the Entrance Hall.

"Tori! How are you?" Mary asked as she kissed my cheek to greet me.

"Hi Mary." I said with a weak smile, not wanting to be rude.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about you and Riddle not working out. I thought you two looked so good together." Mary gushed suddenly.

It was hard to keep myself composed. I was getting rather tired of being told I should be upset about my very short-lived relationship with Tom fizzling out. The constant negativity was beginning to wreak havoc on my mind and I was starting to feel anxious, but could never pinpoint why.

"Well, we'll see what happens." I nervously grinned.

Mary seemed to get the hint that the topic of Tom Riddle made me feel uncomfortable as she quickly unravelled something I didn't realise she was holding.

"My sister just sent me this. I feel bad but it's sometimes frustrating being the only witch in a family of muggles, not having an owl and all. It takes so long for the mail to get here. Being in the middle of a war doesn't help either..." Mary gushed to me.

I was intrigued by her words and the poster in front of me. I had not been exposed to any forms of muggle culture. I had no idea how the muggle postal service worked nor who the handsome man was that was grinning in the poster she was showing me. My parents had sheltered me away from the muggle way of life. As if a switch went off in my mind, I suddenly yearned to hear more.

"Gorgeous, isn't he? He may be a womanizer but I'll always have a place in my heart for him." Mary swooned as she admired the poster in her hands.

I was silent for a moment as I didn't know whether I should play along and agree that the muggle man was good looking or come clean and admit I had no clue who this person was. My mind was made up for me when someone came to join us.

"Mary, honey. As bitter as I may be that you now have a poster of Errol Flynn, I take comfort in knowing that Tori has no idea who he is," Andrew Hartwell grinned as he kissed the top of his girlfriend's head before turning to me "Hello Tori, are you going along okay?"

"Fine thanks. Ready for the big game tomorrow?" I grinned, happy that Andrew was the first person to not mention the break-up between Tom and I.

"Not to sound cocky, but yes. I'm ready." Andrew smartly responded.

Mary clicked her fingers suddenly and looked at both Andrew and I, looking excited.

"Say, Tori. You should sit with me tomorrow! The Head Boy and Head Girl get special seats with the teachers and they're usually allowed to bring a guest. As Andrew will be playing, I would love to invite you to be seated with me." Mary proposed to me.

"Oh! Well, you see-"I began as I was about to politely decline her kind invitation, but she cut me off in a panic.

"Uh oh! I've just realised the time. My professor for Arithmancy has been a little under the weather lately so she's agreed that I can teach the class this week. I need to go prepare. I'll catch up with you later Tori, we'll work everything out." Mary suddenly said.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek to say farewell and gave Andrew a peck on the lips. He cheekily tried to go for a deeper kiss but she shot him a dirty look and stalked off, clearly unimpressed with Andrew trying to take the opportunity to get more intimate.

"That'll be interesting. Instead of being the guest of the Head Boy, you'll be the guest of the Head Girl. I wonder if Riddle will get jealous you're escorting my lovely girlfriend." Andrew grinned mischievously as we began to walk down to our next class which was double Care of the Magical Creatures.

"I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest if he was." I shrugged.

I found myself quite shocked at my cool words. Tom's fierce passion and protective nature of me used to bring out intense feelings deep inside of me. I was surprised that I told Andrew I no longer cared how Tom felt towards me. I was even more stunned when I realised that I meant it.

* * *

The next day I found myself seated within the Quiddich pitch. Mary had ambushed me at breakfast and as I didn't have the bravery to turn down her kind offer, I met her fifteen minutes later outside the castle with my Slytherin scarf wrapped tightly around my neck.

We walked down just the two of us as we spoke about our predictions of how the game would go. We both knew we'd probably be completely wrong – I wasn't a Quiddich fan and thus didn't have the knowledge and as a muggle-born Mary knew even less than I did.

Once we got to the pitch we diverted from the crowd as we made our way up the staff stand. The first thing I noticed was that the area was much smaller than each of the students stands. There were already quite a few staff members present who all looked on curiously when Mary and I had entered.

"Here she is, one of the brightest witches to have ever graced Hogwarts. Miss Figglestill, it's always a pleasure to be in your company," Professor Dippet beamed towards Mary as he shook her hand "and is this your guest of honour for today?"

Headmaster Dippet was rarely seen by the student body. He did work hard but usually in the confides of his office. He would liaise with the two student leaders as well as the school staff on a regular basis but it was rare for him to interact with normal students.

"Yes, she sure is. This is Victoria Black." Mary introduced. It was strange being introduced to a staff member at a school I had attended for nearly seven years but I genuinely knew he had no idea who I was.

His reaction was not one I was expecting. I expected him to be polite but disinterested before moving along swiftly to someone more interesting. Instead he looked gobsmacked but his shock was quickly replaced with a bright smile on his face.

"Black you say? You must be one of Phineas' girls." Headmaster Dippet asked me.

"He's my great grandfather. I never met him, he passed away a year before I was born." I responded.

"Horace, come over here. Have you taught Miss Black here? She's another one of Phineas' descendants." Headmaster Dippet gushed as he beckoned over Slughorn.

"Ah yes, of course I have. Potions wasn't her calling so unfortunately I no longer have the pleasure of teaching Miss Black, but I hear she's quite the expert in Herbology and Care of the Magical Creatures." Slughorn stated to Dippet.

I knew I should have been angry about the fact that Slughorn was being nice to me for the first time in my life, only after some kind words from the headmaster. However I had been seeking approval from the likes of Slughorn for such a long time it was nice that it had finally happened. It was making me happy.

"Two very noble subjects to be proficient in. Everybody wants to excel in the traditional academic subjects, sometimes Herbology and Care of the Magical Creatures can be overlooked and thus there's less people in those fields. Miss Black here should have a very bright future ahead of her." Headmaster Dippet stated with a wide smile on his face.

"Very true, very true. I have never really thought about that before." Slughorn mused.

After a little more small talk Headmaster Dippet excused himself to speak with a few of the other teachers. Slughorn stayed a little longer and spoke with Mary and I before he left – as Tom Riddle had just climbed the stairs he wanted to speak with Tom.

My eyes widened as I grabbed Mary by the arm and lead her quickly to the opposite site of the stand where we took our seats.

"Why is he here? He never comes to Quiddich matches." I hissed loudly in anger.

"Well my guess is that he knew you were coming. It's the only logical thing, the only difference between this match and others before it is the fact you're here in the teacher's stand." Mary shrugged.

I tried to not make it look obvious that I was watching Tom, but I kept watching him from the corner of my eye. I saw many teachers speak to him and fawn over him and I'm fairly sure he had many offers for seating throughout the game.

Unfortunately to my horror he had chosen to sit directly next to me.

"It's lovely to see you Tori. It's great to see you really get into the Slytherin spirit." Tom stated to me.

"Yes, hello Tom. You too." I responded in an attempt to be polite but I could see Tom almost wince at my less than cheery tone.

"Actually Tom, it's great that you made it today. I needed to run something past you – it's Head Boy and Head Girl related actually." Mary piped up suddenly.

"Is now really the time and place? It's not the most appropriate place to have a conversation as we can't give it our full attention. I could have a discussion with you after the match though." Tom responded.

"Oh it'll just be a quick minute, we have time before the match begins," Mary stated with a wave of her hand before she turned to me with a sly wink "Tori if you wouldn't mind swapping places so I can chat with Tom."

It was then made obvious to me what Mary was doing – she was using her Ravenclaw intelligence to get me away from Tom as she must have sensed my discomfort. I gladly swapped seats with her and just as I turned around I saw a grinning face come up the stands. He stood out like a sore thumb as he was the only one not wearing either Gryffindor or Slytherin colours, in fact he had a Hufflepuff scarf tied around his neck. He made a beeline for the unoccupied seat next to me.

"Lovely surprise, I wasn't expecting the pleasure of having the opportunity to sit next to my favourite student for this game." Newt beamed towards me but then I saw his face fell as his eyes looked past me and landed onto Tom.

I looked behind me and noticed Tom seemed disinterested in whatever Mary was saying to him and instead he was intensely watching the interaction between Newt and I.

My eyes snapped back towards Newt and I leaned in so I could speak to him quietly.

"Trust me, I'm very displeased with Riddle sitting near us. I sat away from the other staff in hopes he would leave me alone. But no – he came to sit with us." I frowned.

Newt's face lit up once again and he didn't speak for quite a while as a smile slowly appeared over his face.

"You care about what I think." Newt smiled brightly.

I blinked in confusion – what was Newt getting at?

"O-of course I do. Probably more so than anyone else in this school." I honestly stuttered out.

"Well I must say I'm quite honoured," Newt stated as he put a hand over his chest before leaning in further and quietly finishing the rest "I value your opinions and thoughts over everybody else in this school."

I went to respond to him but I felt increasingly uncomfortable as I could feel someone watching from behind. I turned around and saw Tom watching us with a very serious look on his face. I expected him to drop it once I caught him. However he kept on staring, refusing to break eye contact.

My heart filled with glee as I saw Tom's reaction. The fact I was interacting with Newt bothered him, and it made me happy. I no longer yearned for his touch, nor did I miss his intense kisses. I didn't want to be with Tom. But I sure was still angry at how he had strung me along and had expected me to wait for him like a good girl. Therefore I was feeding on his jealousy.

"Oh my goodness! What's that?" Mary shrieked as she stood up and pointed to a near-by stand full of students.

I snapped out of my trance with Tom and my eyes trailed to where Mary was pointing.

As the stand was fairly far away I couldn't see what was happening in detail. All I could see was that one girl was hunched over with her head in her hands, letting out a blood curling scream as if she was in extreme pain. Most students had cleared the stand to distance themselves from the screaming student – all except one. A friend of this girl remained next to her, patting her back and trying to console her. The one screaming either didn't register her friend's presence or didn't care as she kept yelling without acknowledging her friend.

Her behaviour began to attract the attention of the entire pitch as slowly the crowds became quiet and began to point towards this girl.

"If I'm not mistaken, those are symptoms of an after effect of hazing." Newt frowned.

I gasped at what Newt was saying. He was correct – this is exactly what my parents warned me about growing up. Losing all recollection of one's current whereabouts, non-stop screaming, evidence of re-living trauma amongst her other actions. Newt was right – this had to be due to hazing.

"What on earth is hazing?" Mary asked us, and Tom looked just as clueless at Newt's statement.

My eyes darted between Mary and Tom. It was an odd feeling that I was more knowledgeable about a subject than the two brightest students in the school. But Mary was a muggle born and Tom had grown up in a muggle orphanage. They both hadn't grown up with parents drilling into their heads the dangers of hazing.

"I better go assist. I can see Dumbledore and Slughorn are getting up to go see what's going on. You stay here Mary, you need to cheer on your boyfriend once this match continues on." Tom stated to Mary as he got up.

She remained silent as her eyes fixated on the screaming girl. I was more interested in Tom who shot me one last look I couldn't read as he ran after Professor Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn.

"Tell me what hazing is!" Mary impatiently probed.

"I-well. I don't know why this young lady is experiencing after effects. Strong education programs have been put in place, and it's now illegal to produce wands that have the ability to conjure hazing potions and has been since the thirties. It doesn't make sense." Newt babbled on, not being aware that he had not really answered Mary's question. I decided to speak up.

"It's a very cheap way of trying to predict the future. You don't need divination skills just a few household items for a potion and an old wand made before the ministry passed a law forcing wand makers to block hazing spells from being cast." I began to explain.

"But why is it bad? Divination is completely legal, and it doesn't hurt anybody." Mary quickly asked.

"As I said, hazing is a cheap way of trying to predict the future. The potion drinker will begin to be able to see what they believe is the future for a small period of time. Usually it's nothing more than a false dream with no merit. But the chemicals within the potion can react badly with the brain, or something. That's what I read in the Daily Prophet." I responded.

Mary remained silent and put her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Correct. The hazing potion quite literally burns up the mind. As the potion stays in the bloodstream for very long periods of time, sometimes even years, people can experience after effects a long time after consuming the potion." Newt added on.

"It sounds very similar to opiate abuse in the muggle world." Mary stated.

The three of us were silent as we saw that Dumbledore, Slughorn and Tom had reached the girl in the other stand. Tom and Slughorn rushed over to her immediately whilst Dumbledore stood back and watched. Tom seemed to be checking her vitals and saying something to Slughorn who was quickly brewing up a potion with ingredients he had grabbed from pockets inside his coat. He must carry around common ingredients and portable equipment at all times and it certainly had been useful today.

"Wow, this is really intense. She's now gone completely limp." Mary said out loud as her eyes didn't leave the scene in front of us.

I had no words to say as I looked up at Newt for guidance, who seemed to be watching me in a worried way. I knew basic facts about hazing but had no idea of how to stop the after effects from killing someone and genuinely did not know if this student would be fine or not.

"Most likely she will pull through. Slughorn and Riddle have frozen the after effects. I suspect Dumbledore will get involved and organise for her to be sent to St Mungo's for proper care and treatment." Newt said to me.

I gave him a half-smile. I was still concerned for the student but started to feel a little more at ease now that Newt said she should be okay. I was also in awe at how intelligent Newt was. He was a world renowned Magizoologist – but I had never really thought about other areas Newt would have been knowledgeable about. In order to study creatures to the full extent he would have to know many forms of magic.

Newt must have mistaken my lack of a response for nerves or anxiety as he grabbed my hand that was positioned under the seat. It wasn't just a quick squeeze – he kept his firm grip even after Dumbledore grabbed the girl and apparated to an unknown destination. He was still holding on twenty minutes later when the postponed Quiddich match finally began with both teams kicking off the ground.

* * *

 **So 'hazing' is my invention of wizard drugs. They make the potion, use their wands to stir it with a spell and then drink it. Rather than doing it to get high and feel good they do it to see what "flashbacks" (or flash forwards really) they see. I guess the closest thing to real drugs would be someone on an acid trip.**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **AnadoraBlack - I'm glad you knew all along that Newt wasn't emotionally cheating on Tina. I honestly love Tina, perhaps even more than Newt. Riddle is a dick so unfortunately it will come back and haunt more than just Tori but that's all in good time.**

 **ForeverTeamEdward13 - Thanks for your support on this story as well! Really appreciate it :)**


	15. Chapter 15

One of the most important things I learned from that Quiddich match over the weekend was that in dark times it's important to cling onto any form of light that shines through.

During the actual Quiddich match we had no idea what was happening to that girl and whether she would be okay. But the match went on. Andrew Hartwell was a great Chaser. He was such a graceful flier – he would easily twirl around the Slytherin Chasers and dart around the bludgers hurled at him by the Slytherin Beaters and managed to keep the Gryffindor score much higher than the very few points Slytherin managed to scrape in.

Then his clever Seeker managed to secure the snitch and score a Gryffindor an easy win. Even the commentator said the game was mainly a two person match – the Gryffindor Chaser (Andrew) and his Seeker.

Moments after their win Andrew flew up the teacher's stand where Mary and I were seated, and assisted Mary onto his broom and they did a lap of honour together. It was really sweet as he had her sit in front of him as he held onto her tightly. Mary even let him sneak a few kisses this time. Not only did it seem to make Mary really happy but it seemed to lift the rest of the school's spirits by his sweet and crazy antics. Everybody but the Slytherin house left that pitch with a smile on their face. Even then some of the softer Slytherins were still cheerful – myself included.

It really is a shame that most students and staff in the school preferred the squeaky clean Tom Riddle over the boy who was rough around the edges but heart of gold, Mr Andrew Hartwell. He really is an asset to our school and I truly believe Hogwarts missed out on a great Head Boy.

It seemed like Newt thought along the same lines as I did.

"Wow Hartwell, that was quite the Quiddich match over the weekend. Congratulations on your win. You played spectacularly." Newt piped up on Wednesday during our first Care of the Magical Creatures class of the week.

Newt was running an interesting lesson this week. He hadn't set any tasks for any of his students but instead had given us a project. We were to find a topic related to magical creatures and spend our class time this week doing research. Next week we would be presenting to the class our findings.

Poor Newt – he failed to realise that most students would take advantage of the spare time this week to do anything but school work. Attendance wasn't even compulsory so only a small handful of students had stayed for the lesson. I was the only Slytherin that had remained – with only a few students from other houses remaining.

"Nothing compared to your efforts in your field hey, Professor S!" Andrew responded with a cheesy smile.

Newt decided to not respond to Andrew's contemporary use of his name but just smiled and shook his head.

"When he took Mary Figglestill on that broom," Dorothy, the only other girl who stayed sighed with a hand on her heart "My, that was so romantic."

The couple of boys who had stuck around had all nudged Andrew after this comment was made.

"It was very sweet. You can tell that the two of you care deeply for each other. It was very nice to see." I spoke up. I partly wanted to say this so Andrew's friends could continue to tease him, but also because I meant every word of it and I wanted him to know it.

"You're correct, Tori. I do care a lot about Mary." Andrew smiled.

Whilst I was very happy for Andrew I suddenly felt very self-conscious as everyone's head snapped up to watch the interaction between Andrew and I. It was very well known that Andrew had been chasing after me for years and had only recently conceded defeat and pursued Mary instead. I was hoping that everyone else could be happy for Andrew like I was, and not focus on the past.

"Is she everything you've ever wanted in a girl?" Dorothy asked dreamily, resting her head on her shoulder as she batted her eyelashes towards Andrew wanting to hear the story.

"I s'pose so," Andrew responded as he put his hands in his pockets awkwardly "She's a great girl, and I like to surround myself with great people."

Dorothy huffed in annoyance as she clearly didn't get the romantic answer she was hoping to hear.

"Don't pay attention to him. He's a boy. They downplay their feelings all the time as they don't want to be ridiculed by their friends. He's crazy about Mary – just don't expect him to be able to put his feelings into words." I said to Dorothy with a slight chuckle.

It was nice branching out and speaking to new people. Dorothy was a member of the Hufflepuff house – I couldn't even pinpoint the last time I had spoken to someone from Hufflepuff, Newt excluded of course. This year I had really stepped away from my Slytherin bubble and it was enjoyable.

"You're completely right. Never ask a boy a question that should be addressed by a man," Dorothy grinned as she snapped her fingers and turned to Newt "Professor Scamander, what do you look for in a woman?"

Newt seemed to be caught off guard by this question as his eyes widened in shock and he seemed to lose his balance a little. He seemed to be watching the students carefully but I noticed his eyes kept wandering back to mine.

"Yeah Professor S, tell us. You're married aren't you? Is your wife everything you ever hoped for, or did you settle?" Andrew asked cheekily, and I could tell he knew he was pushing the boundaries and knew it was slightly in bad form.

I bit my lip as I felt awkward for Newt. I was the only one here who knew he was in the middle of divorce proceedings. It was an inappropriate question to ask a teacher at the best of times – but knowing what I did made it so much worse.

However I didn't expect Newt's response.

"Porpentina and I have decided to go our own separate ways. But to answer your question, she was everything I hoped for and I've immensely enjoyed my marriage to her. I'll always think very highly of her." Newt stumbled out to Andrew.

I didn't know what to make of his statement. When we spoke in his office last week he didn't express the raw emotions he was stating now. To me, what he has just stated sounds like the divorce was one sided and that he didn't want to go through the divorce. I honestly don't know how to process that information.

It didn't help he seemed to completely avoid eye contact with me as he spoke about this with Andrew.

"What about our lovely girls here. Tori – what do you look for in a man? We've only ever seen you with perfect Riddle. Is that your type? Pretentious pretty boys?" Andrew chuckled towards me and I could tell he was trying to take the attention off Newt's uncomfortable statement.

All eyes seemed to snap onto me but the ones that stood out were Newt's. He had gone from avoiding eye contact to having an intense gaze on me, his eyes burning onto mine to hear my answer.

"Well look at how that turned out. So no, Riddle isn't my type." I bluntly replied, suddenly feeling very awkward due to the fact that not only did Newt seem so interested in my answer – a bunch of students I barely knew were hearing some of my most private thoughts.

"Us mere mortals stand a chance then with the gorgeous Victoria Black then do we?" Charles, one of Andrew's fellow Gryffindors weakly smiled towards me.

I found myself tensing up at Charles' question. I wasn't really accounted for was I? I had told Tom I was not planning on waiting for him and we barely spoken since so I definitely was no longer Tom's girl. The only other person in my life was Newt but aside from holding my hand at the Quiddich match he had not shown any romantic interest in me. I wanted to be careful to not misinterpret my interactions with Newt. There was a high probability what I thought could be Newt showing interest was just his mannerisms. I do enjoy his company but he's certainly a one of a kind, slightly strange fellow. He was also my professor so I wasn't holding my breath that anything could happen between us. Did I want something to happen between us?

"Well as long as my next suitor was kind, and treated me with respect. That's all I really look for." I responded.

The boys all let out cat calls which caused Dorothy and I to look at each other and roll our eyes. I had to contain a smile – I was over the moon I could have a girly moment with a new person.

"Really? Pretty little half-Veela Slytherin like you, I thought you'd have a big list of demands. Big bank vault at Gringott's, big muscles, big genitals-" Charles joked loudly but was angrily cut off.

I wasn't offended as I knew Charles was trying to be funny and not nasty but I kept my eyes on Andrew as he said this. Andrew did not have a gang in the same way Tom did – but as the Quiddich captain and seventh year boy prefect a lot of Gryffindors seemed to really respect him. I was expecting Andrew to tell Charles to quit his teasing. But Newt got in first.

"Charles Adler, that's enough. That also goes for the rest of you. You've been set a task and I expect you all to use adequate class time to complete it. So if you're going to talk for the rest of the lesson it will be about creatures only. More importantly if you're going to ask anyone questions, myself included, it better be about school work." Newt growled to the entire class angrily.

Everyone in the class was taken aback by Newt's sudden change in personality. I don't think anyone had ever seen him as anything less than happy-go-lucky. We all put our heads down and started flipping through our textbooks in silence. We all assumed we had crossed a line speaking to Newt about his love life and divorce. I would very soon learn just how wrong I was.

Even though Care of the Magical Creatures was my favourite class for once I was glad it was over as I trudged back up to the castle.

I quietly ate my dinner as Beatrice gushed next to me about various topics. She had assumed that I was spending time with Andrew to try and make Tom jealous to win him back. I didn't bother to correct her. It wasn't true but it stopped her or anyone else giving me a hard time for enjoying the company of a Gryffindor.

She did mention one topic that interested me.

"I overheard Riddle speaking to his friends before. Apparently that girl from the Quiddich match had participated in hazing over the summer and was having after effects from the hazing." Beatrice said to me as we were finishing up our meals.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked Beatrice curiously.

"From what I overheard it sounds like she should be. They're going to keep her in St Mungos but she hasn't died or anything." Beatrice revealed.

After dinner I had planned to get started on my Care of the Magical Creatures project for next week. But as I spread my work out across a table in the Slytherin common room I found it hard to concentrate. As I flipped through my textbook to try and find an appropriate creature to present on, my mind kept wandering back to today.

There were so many thoughts to consider.

Newt ended up telling the class freely about his divorce. Does that mean there was no special bond between us two? I felt so silly for being so sensitive about it however that day we shared many intimate conversations and it killed me to think it meant a lot less to Newt than it did for me.

He also may or may not actually want that divorce and I didn't even want to think about why that bothered me so.

He had also snapped at the class and that included me. I could understand it was an emotionally charged conversation and why he wouldn't be his usual self. But I couldn't get the image out of my head of him yelling at the class. I hated to see him not his usual joyful self.

Yet he seemed so interested in knowing what I looked for in a man. This excited me even though I knew it shouldn't.

Wanting to keep my mind clear and away from the topic of Newt I traded in my Care of the Magical Creatures textbook for my Transfiguration one.

I became engrossed into reading about tomorrow's lesson, which Dumbledore informed us would be turning freshly baked warm fruitcake into ice cubes. Whilst they were both small objects you'd find in a kitchen – turning something hot into something frozen was one of the most advanced forms of Transfiguration one could undertake. Therefore I needed all the study I could get.

"Hello Tori. I can see you've got open your Transfiguration book. Is there anything I can assist you with?" I heard Tom ask.

I cast my eyes up from my textbook to see Tom standing across the table looking at me with a serious expression.

"I'm quite fine. Thank you Tom." I curtly responded as I took my eyes off of him and snapped my attention back onto the textbook.

I began to read on the correct wand technique for turning hot objects into cold ones. I had almost forgotten about Tom completely as I entirely submerged myself into the book but moments later I heard a chair pull up next to me.

I looked up to see Tom sitting next to me, his dark eyes piercing into my pale ones as he stared at my face. I tried to bravely not cower under his intense look but I found I was losing the battle.

Then he snaked an arm around my shoulders as he pulled me closer to him with a sly smile.

I swallowed nervously. I thought I was completely and utterly over Tom Riddle but with a simple touch he was able to suck me back into complicated feelings for him. I almost felt my skin burning from his embrace and I wanted to throw his arm off of my shoulder, but I knew if I did this I would crave his touch once more.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for me?" Tom asked me before he leaned into my ear and reduced his voice to a whisper "I'll forgive you and let you take back what you said, just this once."

I closed my eyes to try and gain some inner strength. Whilst this did ensure Tom would not be able to charm me with his handsome face, it caused a new problem. From the loss of one sense my other senses become so much stronger.

He was now moving his hand gently around my collar bone tenderly. No matter how much I was trying to block it from my mind I found his touch so intimate and arousing.

Well as long as my next suitor was kind, and treated me with respect. That's all I really look for.

My words from earlier hit me all of a sudden. Was Tom kind and did he treat me with respect? Not really. He was always quite the gentleman towards me however the bottom line was that he expected me to wait for him until I would stop being a 'distraction' – which meant that he was putting his own interests above mine.

I snapped my Transfiguration book shut with a loud thud which seemed to catch Tom off guard, enough that he removed his arm from my shoulder.

With a wave of my wand and the words 'accio school supplies' I was able to quickly collect my belongings and I jumped up from my seat.

"I think it's best if I head off to bed. It's going to be quite the Transfiguration lesson tomorrow. I think I need as much rest as I can get." I stated to Tom.

I saw him frown at my sudden departure but moments later he let his normal charming smile appear across his face.

"This talk is to be continued. There's still much more we need to discuss." Tom stated.

I very badly wanted to tell him what I had been attempting to tell him for the past two weeks. That no, there was nothing left to say. That he blew any future chances with me by calling things off and he certainly couldn't pause our relations.

Even though he was no longer touching me some of his control was still lingering over me. I could function again but only barely and I didn't seem capable of saying what I had wanted to really say.

So instead I bid him goodnight as I scrambled out of the common room and down to my dormitory.

Half an hour ago I was worried about Newt and couldn't get today's events out of my mind. I had desperately wanted a distraction to not have to worry about Newt Scamander. Unfortunately after that stunt Tom had just pulled my mind was instead consumed with thoughts of Tom.

For the first night in weeks I had a sleepless night as I was up all night worrying about Tom Riddle. I would have given anything to be in the predicament I was in earlier that evening where I was instead worrying about Newton Scamander, as he had yet to make me lose sleep over him.

* * *

 **I know you all want a little less Riddle and a little (lot) more Scamander. But in this chapter Tori has only realised she definitely has feelings for Newt, so much that she doesn't want to think about it. It's a huge step forward, I swear!**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **ForeverTeamEdward13 - as always thank you so much! I hope you're well x**

 **AnadoraBlack - thanks for your review, if Riddle is putting you on edge it means i'm writing his character right! Sorry for this chapter in that case ha ha. I effing love Queenie too! She's so kind and innocent and I almost cried when they had to obliviate Jacob. I was so happy when I read he's coming back. Honestly one of my favourite HP universe pairings.**

 **GuestB - Hopefully you liked this chapter as it has lots of possessive Tom ;) it's lacking in the sweet Newt moments (actually quite the opposite) but more will be explained soon and there's lot more Newt coming soon. Lots of Mary and Andrew too - its quite strange writing something where everyone knows what will ultimately happen but its one hell of a ride!**


	16. Chapter 16

Only three students actually remained for Thursday's Care of the Magical Creatures class. Andrew Hartwell, Dorothy from Hufflepuff and myself. A very small handful of students did show up but Newt happily excused them all and said they were very welcome to research in the library instead.

As we were working on projects and rather than studying creatures we were working in the classroom rather than on the field. Newt still didn't seem to be his usual self. He wasn't engaging with the class and instead was reading quietly at the front. Andrew and I were sitting near the front whilst Dorothy was a few rows behind us working by herself.

"What creature are you doing your project on?" Andrew asked me quietly as we got our textbook out and grabbed our quills and parchment.

"I don't know yet. I've been working really hard on Transfiguration work instead, it's been a tough week." I responded.

"Tell me about it! I've been working on Transfiguration too. Turning a warm fruitcake into ice cubes, why on earth do we need to know this? I'd much rather the fruitcake!" Andrew ranted loudly.

We both turned very stone faced when we saw Newt look up from what he was reading. Andrew shot me a look but then stuck out his tongue at me to make me laugh in front of Newt's scrutiny. I tried my hardest to not laugh but the corners of my mouth twitched into a smile due to Andrew's antics.

Newt sent a smile back before he spoke up.

"You're more than welcome to spend your class time working on Transfiguration work if you believe it's more pressing." Newt offered to us.

"Thank you Professor Scamander but its okay. I don't want to be rude. This is Care of the Magical Creatures class. It would be disrespectful to you and the subject." I spoke up.

I was grateful that Newt was no longer crabby about what had turned him angry last lesson. It made me feel a lot more comfortable around him again.

Newt looked at Andrew and I, and I then noticed his eyes turned to Dorothy. She looked up from her school work to meet his gaze.

"I like you three. Tell you what, I'll give you an extension. I can promise that you three will be the last to present during the presentations. Therefore you can work on Transfiguration right now to your heart's content." Newt said to Andrew, Dorothy and myself before he went back to reading the paper he was so interested in.

I kept my eye on him for a moment as I wasn't sure if he meant what he had said. But he didn't raise his head at all, being engrossed in the topic he was reading about. After watching him carefully I got the courage to get my Transfiguration book out.

All of us read in silence for a while, until a knock at the door interrupted the silence.

We all looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore enter the classroom.

"Pardon my interruption, but I was wondering if I may please borrow your professor for a quick word." Professor Dumbledore asked us politely.

"It's quite fitting you've entered Albus. I've let the students work on their Transfiguration work today, they're going to finish their Care of the Magical Creatures work on the weekend." Newt smiled towards Dumbledore.

"Unfortunately I've got some urgent matters to tend to, otherwise I'd normally love to stay and help. Newt, if you wouldn't mind stepping out for a moment, I need to speak to you about Gellert Grindelwald." Professor Dumbledore softly spoke, a twinkle still in his eye even though what he was saying was fairly serious.

Everybody's head shot up at this revelation. Nobody said a word but Newt got off of his chair and rushed out of the classroom with Dumbledore. It was only after Newt had left that any of us spoke up.

"I wonder if it's a good or bad thing that Dumbledore wants to speak to Professor Scamander about Grindelwald. Do you think they've captured him finally?" Dorothy asked inquisitively.

This caused Andrew to let out a large snort.

"Even if they had, it wouldn't mean much. That man has been caught so many times and always seems to disappear. Scamander and his now ex-wife caught him for the second time back in the twenties and he's been caught and escaped dozens of times since." Andrew explained.

"Really?" I asked in amazement, causing both Andrew and Dorothy to shoot me weird looks due to my ignorance.

"I thought everybody knew that? It's well known knowledge that Professor Scamander and his family have been very involved in stopping Grindelwald," Dorothy spoke up "I don't mean to be rude, sorry."

"It's fine. I feel incredibly stupid right now for not knowing all of this. You need to forgive my ignorance though. I'm a member of the Black family. My entire family all agree with Grindelwald's values and thus have always shielded the news each time he was captured." I admitted.

I could tell Dorothy felt bad as she shot me a sympathetic look, however even Andrew looked at me guiltily. Both of them had grown up with stable and loving families. I used to only be concerned that the Black family had treated me as an outcast my whole life due to having a Veela as a mother, but this year after branching out and befriending other people I was beginning to see many more things that were wrong with the Blacks.

"So Professor Scamander's ex-wife sounds like quite the lady, if she was able to assist with Grindelwald. She must be really smart." I found myself saying out loud.

The worst part wasn't that I was scared of what Andrew and Dorothy thought about me bringing her up. I hated that I had opened up a can of worms – I was now going to hear lots of nice things about Newt's soon to be ex-wife, and that bothered me.

"I've read a few news articles about her. She's American, and an Auror. I guess she must be fairly intelligent but she's kind of ordinary looking, really. Her sister is a real dish though, but she married a muggle." Andrew explained with a big grin on his face.

I had to contain a smile at Andrew's revelations. I did feel a bit guilty that Andrew referred to Tina Scamander as 'plain' but I couldn't help but to let this news please me.

"On that note I think I'm going to head off. If I'm going to be working on Transfiguration I may as well go to the library for better concentration. I'll see you both later." Dorothy stated as she quickly packed up her books and headed out.

There was some silence between Andrew and I once more as I looked down to my school work and began to read again. Andrew however was cheekily casting his eyes on the papers on Newt's desk to try and see what Newt had been so engrossed in before he was called away.

"Merlin! Tori, you're a half-Veela right?" Andrew asked cheekily.

"You know very well I am. Why?" I asked him.

Andrew didn't respond but thrust the papers into my hands after grabbing them from Newt's desk.

I scanned my eyes over the title of a letter, and then a research paper that he also had. Both of them had the same topic – half-Veelas. Not full blooded Veelas, but specifically girls who had a human father and a Veela mother.

"What on earth…" I exclaimed loudly to Andrew as I focused my attention on the letter and began to read it. I kept the letter in-between us so Andrew could have a read as well.

 _Dear Mr Scamander,_

 _We were very pleased to receive your letter and we are very delighted to hear about your subject. As you are very much aware it is only very recently that Veelas have started breeding with wizards. We do not have any records of any half-Veelas prior to the beginning of the twentieth century._

 _Presently we only have thirteen girls on record worldwide that have the status of half-Veela. Only females born to a Veela mother and human father are considered half-Veela, as males have no traces of the gene._

 _Whilst you've attempted to keep your female student anonymous we must respectfully inform you that we are quite aware who you are referring to when you wrote to us based on your subject's age. We approached the Black family when Victoria was five years old in an attempt to study her, but her family quite viciously sent us away. Therefore we don't have much on record about her and unfortunately we don't have anything of use to forward to you for your studies._

 _Please find attached a journal article written by one of our researchers for your record which you may find useful. Our research has found that whilst half-Veelas have had their powers very much watered down compared to their mothers, they still have lots of power over men other than their inherited good looks. Normally they must learn to activate these powers first, which we've found they may not always activate these skills._

 _We encourage you to stay in touch as you continue to study your subject, and if you ever need any assistance we are only an owl away._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Ragmar Brocklehurt_

 _Institute of the Study of Veela_

"That's not right. That's really not right." Andrew said in shock, the only one capable of speech.

"I'm not very smart so correct me if I've misinterpreted that letter. But from what I've read it seems as if Scamander wrote to this institute asking for records for someone who matches my description because he's studying them." I asked Andrew despite the lump forming in my throat.

"I wish it could be interpreted any other way. But no, unfortunately I think you're right. I've just lost a whole lot of respect for him." Andrew responded with disappointment very evident in his voice.

"Right. Well, I'm going to go. I need to process this information." I said to Andrew as I began to pack up my books very quickly.

* * *

"Tori, you can't stay in the dorm all night. I've got good news!" Beatrice exclaimed in a sing-song voice later on.

As soon as I departed from Andrew I came up to my dorm and closed the curtains on my bed. I had experienced a range of emotions through the late afternoon and early evening.

At first I expressed the same emotions that Andrew had expressed. Disgust and anger. I couldn't believe Scamander would sink so low as to become close to me purely to study me and my heritage. It had also made me feel paranoid – I clearly couldn't judge the people around me and their interactions with me. Who could I trust in this world?

Eventually this caused sadness to wash over me and for the past few hours I had been crying my eyes out on my bed. I had even missed dinner as I was too upset to go down.

I had heard Drucilla come in before and laugh cruelly at my misfortune. I had guessed she had gone around and told all of Slytherin house that I had been crying.

"What's the good news?" I asked Beatrice sounding quite disinterested.

"Riddle has summoned you. I think he heard you're sad and wants to cheer you up." Beatrice said sounding very cheerful.

"I-I might go see him later when I'm much better company." I stuttered out in response.

Beatrice opened the curtains and sat on my bed, giving me a sympathetic look at my tear stained face.

"That's very wise of you to be worried about your appearance and your state of mind before seeing Riddle, it really is. But you don't want to keep a boy you're trying to win back waiting. If you wipe your eyes and dust your face with powder you'll look your normal glowing self." Beatrice said as she squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

Even though I believed Beatrice's priorities were wrong I still appreciated her efforts. What I needed was a true friend right now and I was going to unload onto her. I didn't want to tell her about what had happened with Newt as I don't think I had the courage to talk about it yet. But I was ready to talk about another matter that had been bothering me for a while.

"Honestly Beatrice, the effect Tom has on me, I must admit I really don't like it. No matter how many times I tell him I'm no longer interested he keeps coming back. But I'm powerless to stop him, he always seems to make me melt. I just want it all to stop." I admitted, letting out a big breath of air and closing my eyes as I got this off my chest.

Beatrice was silent for a while and I opened my eyes to see her reaction. I saw that she was smiling wildly.

"What's not to like about that? That's so romantic. That no matter how much you push him away, he keeps coming back. There's no shame in admitting that Riddle's charm makes you weak at the knees, I think he has that effect on all of us." Beatrice responded.

I contemplated continuing on and explaining to Beatrice just how much Tom negatively affected me but I stopped myself. Beatrice may be somewhat of a friend to me but I now realised we didn't see eye-to-eye on the topic of Tom Riddle's involvement in my life and she perhaps wasn't the best person to speak to about the topic.

"I'll think about coming up soon." I said to Beatrice with a fake smile on my face.

She gave my shoulder a squeeze before she got off my bed and left the dormitory.

Instead of feeling better I felt a lot worse after Beatrice's talk. I was really hoping to relieve myself of this pain that Tom caused me but instead I felt even more alone. Not only did I have to worry about the fact that my entire friendship with Newt was most likely based on lies, I once again had to worry about the trance that Tom Riddle always seemed to suck me into.

I made no attempt to make my way upstairs and a short while later I heard someone come into the dorm. As my curtains were still open I sat up to see Drucilla sneering at me, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. She made it very obvious she had no desire to be conversing with me.

"I don't really care if you come up to the common room or not. But Riddle wanted me to tell you if you don't come up in five minutes, he has no choice but to assume something is really wrong and your safety is at risk. He said he'll have to go to Slughorn to make sure you're not doing any harm to yourself." Drucilla said with a roll of her eyes.

Girls like Beatrice would think this was a very sweet gesture that Tom was pulling. That he was so concerned for my wellbeing that he was willing to get a teacher involved.

I knew better. This was another control technique. He knew perfectly well I was not capable of causing harm to myself. He couldn't stand that I was upset for reasons unknown to him. He had to be the one calling the shots and to stay in control.

If I was a stronger person I would tell Drucilla to go away and that I wasn't going to move an inch. I'd either be calling Tom's bluff, or if he got Slughorn involved I would show them both I was fine.

But unfortunately I was me. I got off the bed, wiped my tears and straightened my school skirt before I followed Drucilla out into the common room.

I saw Tom pacing around near the fire moments before he noticed my presence. He was always hard to read but he looked like he was worried. He made sure this look disappeared off his face the second he saw me enter the room.

"Look, I'm alright. No need to get Slughorn involved. I'm going back to bed." I said in an attempt to speak up first – before Tom could lay his charm thick on me. However I should have known I wouldn't be so lucky and that Tom would press on.

"Tori you see, the number one duty for the Hogwarts Head Boy is to ensure his students are safe and happy. I can clearly see you're not happy and I'm not quite convinced you're safe. I must insist you accompany me on a stroll so we can have a chat." Tom sternly stated.

I stayed quiet but I began to follow him up the stairs outside of the common room. I was once again wishing Andrew was made Head Boy over Tom – he wouldn't pull a stunt like this. He once told me that he was Dumbledore's pick for the role, but every other decision maker preferred Tom.

We didn't venture too far from the common room as we made our way into the empty Potions classroom. I didn't bother taking a seat as I wanted this over and done with.

"What has happened to make you this upset?" Tom asked me.

"I don't know. Silly, teenage girl things. It's not a big deal." I responded in an attempt to downplay my mood. I even looked down to try and avoid Tom's gaze so he couldn't work his usual charisma onto me.

As if he understood exactly what I was doing, Tom took a step closer to me. He cocked my chin up using his hand and let his hand linger around my face.

"Someone has hurt you. I want to know who." Tom asked me intensely.

"Tom you can't keep doing this to me. You can't keep claiming I'm a distraction but then come running after me when I start to lose interest. Ultimately the one that keeps hurting me is you." I exclaimed to Tom, finally letting my frustrations be heard by him.

"You've never been this vocal about your feelings. It's very refreshing to hear." Tom stated, moving his thumb up and down my jaw gently.

"You may be the one who keeps upsetting me but today I've learned that someone is capable of hurting me more than you have. So forgive me if I'm not my usual self tonight." I sighed.

Although I wasn't completely immune to Tom's charms tonight, I had put up a good shield and not let him affect me as much as he normally does. It was just a shame that it was my mix of negative emotions that was the driving factor.

* * *

 **It's been a while. Sorry. I'll try and update more - I really want this story well and truly done by the time the next film comes out, as the next film is going to establish facts that make this story even more alternative universe than it already is.**

 **In response to the reviews...**

 **Guest: I'm very sorry to hear this story has upset you and caused you great discomfort. I definitely understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. Unfortunately I won't be deleting it, but I'm willing to compromise. I've changed the rating to M (Which it definitely should have been) and included a trigger warning and a disclaimer right at the top of chapter 1 that this story should be considered alternative universe (AU) AND all parties are consenting and over the age of 18. Hopefully you now never have to stumble across this story again.**

 **AnadoraBlack: Damn Riddle I hate him too. And not just because he becomes Voldemort and evil AF - which is disturbing because that's why I should hate him the most. But I effing hate cocky overconfident teenage boys. Luckily Tori is slowly building up immunity to him.**

 **ForeverTeamEdward13: Thanks soo much for your continued support on both stories :) I'm going to try and update more.**

 **SilverNightmares: Cheers for the review, really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoy the scandals - I love writing them hehe.**

 **Sarah: Thanks for both really kind reviews. Don't worry - I'm back in black ;)**

 **strangeyouths: Thank you :) welcome!**


	17. Chapter 17

"I'm worried about you." Mary Figglestill frowned as she pulled up a chair at the library table I was sitting at.

"Why?" I asked curiously as I narrowed my eyes. After all, it seemed there were quite a few things going on in my life right now.

I had been spending all of my time in the library and in my dormitory. These were the two places Tom couldn't reach me. He obviously did not have access to the girl's dormitory. However in the library the librarian had angrily barred him from talking to me, saying the library was no place for courtship.

He had previously caught on that I was spending some time in the library and after a few evenings he came in to talk to me. He, like Mary, knew that something was bothering me. He said that he deeply cared for me and it was troubling him to see me so upset.

I thought all of his interactions up until now were methods of ensuring he obtained control over me. But now I wasn't so sure. His actions showed he did genuinely care about me. But after analysing the friendship I had with Newt I knew I couldn't trust my own judgment and didn't care to find out what Tom truly felt about me. I'd rather just keep my distance.

Which is also another reason why Mary could be worried about me.

"You're not your usual shining and charming yourself. I can sense something is off." Mary stated smugly.

"What do you mean by that?" I snapped, being quite unimpressed with Mary coming over to say these things to me.

"Take those words with the highest regard. I can tell it is part of your culture and nature – as both part Veela and a Slytherin. Instead of using your good looks and sly cunning ways to influence people to like you, you do the opposite. You do it to get people to leave you alone. You're set in your lone wolf ways." Mary explained to me.

I struggled to keep myself composed. On the inside I was seething but I managed to keep shooting Mary a blank look. It was absolutely easy for her to say these things to me and analyse my personality. She was highly adored by all teachers, including the hard-to-please Slughorn. She had a loving family at home with no unreasonable expectations of who she was supposed to be. She wasn't part of a house that hated her based on her mother's heritage. Therefore her words were rubbing me the wrong way.

As if she read my mind, Mary continued on.

"I don't have many friends. People seem to be afraid of strong women, or have another motive as they want a favour from the Head Girl. You may be a Slytherin but you're still a genuine person and you're a true friend to me. That's why if something is troubling you – I want to help you." Mary revealed.

Guilt immediately washed over me at Mary's words. I had grown so jaded and untrusting due to Tom's questionable manipulations and Newt's betrayal that I failed to see Mary's bona fide friendship. I hadn't been shown a lot of love or care in my life coming from the Black family, so one couldn't blame me for my initial stance.

"I-it's Riddle. He keeps bothering me to know my thoughts and feelings on certain topics. So I've started to avoid the common room to keep my distance from him. I'm not sure why he's doing this, he's the one who ended things between us. I feel quite harassed." I admitted to Mary.

This was how I felt up until recently, but I wasn't sure whether I still felt this way. I still wanted to keep a distance but maybe he just did it because he cared. He was the one who wanted to 'pause' the relationship anyway. Not end it.

"Have you told him this? Have you asked him to leave you alone?" Mary asked as her eyes widened.

"Well, yes. I have. A few times. I guess I haven't been very strong with it each time. He's very charming you see. I'm quite weak to his charms." I explained to Mary as I fidgeted in my seat.

I suddenly felt absolutely pathetic. This was the first time I was telling someone my true feelings about Tom, it was even the first time I was saying these feelings out loud. It was correct in that I had feebly told Tom to stop bothering me a few times. But I was never strong enough to enforce my stance. Therefore it made sense that he would not take my request seriously. He wasn't really doing anything wrong.

I also felt inadequate indulging these thoughts with Mary. She was so bright and talented – and also strong as she put it herself. She always seemed to be on good terms with Tom, but I had never seen her fall for his charms. The fact that she preferred the boyish Andrew Hartwell over the handsome and charming Tom Riddle with no hesitation said a lot about her. She probably thought I was really silly for not properly telling Tom to leave me alone.

"Oh Tori. Even before we became friends I've been watching you two for a while. You and Tom are after all the two most attractive people in the school. I saw you two becoming a couple a mile off. But you never seemed to look his way, until this year. He's certainly laying the charm thick on you, and it is working." Mary frowned.

I chose not to respond but once again shot her a dirty look. I felt feeble telling her my thoughts and feelings but she was dictating them back to me in agreeance. I didn't like it.

"Therefore it's not your fault. He knows you're pulling away and he's losing control. You should only need to say no once. What he's doing is manipulation. I think we need to act upon it right now." Mary stated as she quickly shot up from her seat, grabbing my arm to yank me up from mine.

Once again my negative thoughts towards Mary quickly vanished as her words resonated with me. I already knew it was the case that Tom knew all of his interactions with me were quite intoxicating to me. That, as much as I wanted to run, his touch always rooted me to my spot and he always seemed to have complete and utter control over me. But hearing someone else speak negatively about Tom's authority over me made me feel a lot better. All of my fellow Slytherin seventh years were always saying how lucky I was to have gained Tom's affections which clouded my judgment. But hearing Mary's unfavourable opinion over the situation was clearing my thoughts.

"What do you propose we do?" I asked Mary suddenly.

"As members of the house of Slytherin, you and Tom share a common head of house. Professor Slughorn. We're going straight to him." Mary responded as she frogmarched me from the library and through the corridors on the path to Slughorn's office.

"Slughorn doesn't actively dislike me, but has no favourable feelings towards me. On the other hand he absolutely adores Tom. This isn't going to do anything." I loudly protested, but made no effort to stop Mary as I followed her willingly.

"That may be true. But we've got a few things to our advantage. Slughorn has always liked me a lot as well. As Head Girl he'll listen to my case." Mary stated.

I nodded, in order to let her continue as I could tell she had more to add on.

"This is going to be very harsh to hear and let me say I completely disagree with Slughorn's stance. But at the last Slug Club party, I was under the impression that Slughorn wasn't a big fan of a relationship between yourself and Riddle. He kept pushing me towards Riddle. When that didn't work he tried my sixth year Hufflepuff prefect, the one that's related to that famous alchemist." Mary started to babble on.

This was perhaps the cruellest thing that Mary had said to me today. Every other thing she had said to annoy me were just facts and compliments. Although not a compliment, her statement was a fact. I had overheard Slughorn say the exact thing to Newt, that he felt I wasn't up to Tom's standard. Therefore Mary's statement didn't bring out any ill feelings inside of me. I didn't blame her for Slughorn's rationing and I had long accepted that Slughorn did not think I was a worthy person.

"Yes, that is true." I responded with no emotion evident in my voice. Mary shot me a weird look and I guessed it was due to my neutral response, before she continued on.

"Therefore if you're going to him to say you wish to cease Tom's advances, he's getting something out of it too." Mary quietly said as we reached closer to Slughorn's office.

For the first time in my life I was absolutely glad that I wasn't one of Slughorn's favourites. What Mary was saying made perfect sense. I wasn't sure what Slughorn would say or how he would propose to get Tom to leave me alone, but he most likely was on the same team and would be able to help this happen.

We finally reached Slughorn's office and Mary rapped on the door loudly. Feeling a little nervous at what we were about to do I made sure to stand behind Mary.

Slughorn opened his office door and blinked in confusion at the sight of Mary and I. His confusion turned into a smile.

"Miss Figglestill, Miss Black. What a lovely surprise. Come through, come through. Can I get you both a drink?" Professor Slughorn offered as he stood aside to let Mary and I through.

Mary asked for a butterbeer as she stepped in but I noticed that her eyes landed on something that made her stop in her tracks. I followed her in but when I saw what she was seeing, I too skidded to a halt.

"Professor Scamander and I were having a drink together. I'm thinking of travelling next year over the summer. He was giving me his expertise on Bicorn horns as I'm thinking of gathering some. Purely for academic purposes of course." Professor Slughorn explained.

My back stiffened at the sight of Newt. It had been about a week since Andrew and I had stumbled across the letter from the Veela institute. I hadn't confronted Newt about it. I didn't feel capable of gathering the courage to ask him why he taken a shining to me. I also didn't want to admit to him I had read his private mail. Therefore I had kept a distance outside of class. I wasn't sure whether he was catching on or not, but he seemed to be directing more questions to me lately over other students in the class.

"Oh hello Victoria, what an absolute pleasure. Lovely to see you too, err…I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name." Newt stated and then turned to Mary with a sheepish grin.

"It's Mary Figglestill. Don't worry, you won't be forgetting it when I'm a famous Arithmancy researcher after I finish school," Mary piped up very coolly before turning to Slughorn "Actually, Tori and I were hoping to be able to speak to you alone, Professor Slughorn."

"You can have Professor Slughorn in a moment. I'm interested in hearing all about your aspirations in Arithmancy. I myself was never great with numbers." Newt responded as he patted the two seats next to him around Slughorn's table.

I was hoping that Mary would take a seat next to Newt. Instead she took the spare seat next to Slughorn and I reluctantly sat myself down next to Newt.

Mary then began to launch into speaking about her passion for the subject of Arithmancy. I wanted to listen out of respect for my good friend, but I found my thoughts drifting away. It was hard. Arithmancy was quite a tiresome subject and I barely understood a word that Mary was saying.

"Very enlightening. Thank you Mary. I feel like I've learned quite a bit about Arithmancy this evening." Newt politely responded once Mary had tied up her lecture.

"Now girls, what do I owe you the pleasure of this visit? As lovely as it has been unfortunately bedtime is coming up." Slughorn asked Mary.

Mary and I shot uncomfortable looks. I wouldn't feel easy with any other teacher being privy to the information we wanted to share with Slughorn. But right now I really didn't want Newt to be involved with my private life. What if he went and wrote to that Veela institute? Surely Tom and I must be an interesting topic. The Veela was the one left being charmed and looking like a fool.

"As I stated before. I think Tori would feel more comfortable if it was just us. Sorry Professor Scamander." Mary awkwardly stated, biting her lip as she turned to Newt.

This immediately got Newt's attention as he sat up straight.

"Tori, you're in trouble? What's going on?" Newt asked seriously.

"It doesn't matter to you!" I cried out, the first time I had ever been anything less than polite to Newt as I felt my emotions overcome me "You're just my Care of the Magical Creatures teacher! Nothing more."

The room grew silent at my words. It took a while for Newt to respond.

"Oh. Oh, I see." Newt sadly stated as he got up from his chair. My statement seemed to have really hurt him.

I was torn between emotions as I saw Newt's reaction to my blunt statement. I must admit I felt a bit of glee. Newt was displaying feelings that I did when I read his letter. I was guessing he was hurt because he now realised that the relationship between us was just a formality.

But then guilt and sadness washed over me. Why was he upset by what I had said? If I was just a study to him, why would this be a problem? It was also hard to see such a happy-go-lucky person grow sad because of a cold statement I had said. I may be a Slytherin, but I wasn't that cruel.

Whilst Mary didn't seem to pick up on any seriousness to what I had said, I noticed that Slughorn was shooting weird looks as he looked between Newt and I.

"Thank you Professor Scamander. I'm sorry that as a student I've asked you to leave, but it's quite serious. There's a boy that's harassing Tori, and we wish to report him to Professor Slughorn." Mary stated curtly.

"Is it the Lestrange boy? I've noticed he's always been quite horrible to you Tori. I may have a history with that family, but I can say with certainty that boy is quite cruel to her." Newt spoke up.

Without even realising that Newt had almost inappropriately used my nickname, Mary responded to him.

"Rangvald Lestrange is a nasty piece of work. But it's not him. It's Riddle. He's still obsessing over Tori and holding full control over her. He called things off between them, but he still wants her under his control. It's sick." Mary stated loudly.

Newt's head shot towards me upon hearing Mary's words. I avoided his gaze. I felt awkward after snapping to him that he was 'only my teacher' and saying that he meant nothing more to me.

This also caught Slughorn's attention. He shot a very dirty look towards Mary.

"Yes, Newt. Perhaps if it is best you left. I wouldn't want a faculty member to be subject to such slander against the brightest student this school has ever seen." Slughorn stated seriously.

"How do you know its slander? You haven't heard her out yet." Newt darkly responded as he put an arm on my shoulder whilst meeting Slughorn's gaze with his own intense one.

Mary looked increasingly uncomfortable as she saw the stand-off between Newt and Slughorn. I could tell she didn't mean to cause tensions between two teachers and as a do-gooder who never caused trouble it wasn't settling well with her. I'm guessing she also wasn't used to not having Slughorn's approval.

"I-I'm sure it's not something Riddle realises he's doing. But for his and Tori's own good, maybe you could have a word with him to ask him to stop chasing after her?" Mary meekly asked and I could tell she was trying to backpedal a little in order to remain in Slughorn's good graces.

"Miss Figglestill, you know better than this. You know it is poor practice to make such bold accusations with such little evidence. How do we not know that perhaps Miss Black is feeling a little scorned after being dumped by Riddle and is playing into his polite and gentleman actions? Perhaps she's seeing what she wants to see." Slughorn angrily lectured.

I felt a lump form in my throat. I knew Slughorn would react negatively to Mary and I coming to see him to report Tom harassing me. I just never expected for him to be so nasty and say such horrible things. I certainly wasn't strong enough to defend myself against such harsh accusations and instead I stayed silent as tears pricked my eyes.

"Sorry, Professor Slughorn," Mary said with her head held down in shame "But if you keep an eye out for it, and see it with your own eyes, then will you do something?"

"Yes. If I see it, I would. But I doubt I will." Slughorn curtly responded.

"I believe Victoria. She has no reason to lie. She's part-Veela, I think that counts for something. If she wanted Riddle's attention she would easily be able to obtain it with her Veela charms. Considering she's here instead trying to plead her case, well. I think that speaks volumes." Newt spoke up in defence.

Once again I couldn't face him. Whilst I appreciated that he was backing me up, I didn't enjoy his statement. It seemed like concrete proof that he was in fact studying me as he had bought up my heritage.

"I must warn you, Newt. It appears maybe her charms are working on you. As she said to you before – you're just a teacher to her. Don't let yourself get too caught up and go into dangerous waters purely for a pretty face." Slughorn scorned.

My sadness disappeared as anger started to course through my body. For too long I had let Slughorn look down on me. I had long accepted he never thought I was good enough for his club, or that I would amount to much after I finished school. I had accepted accidental insult, after accidental insult.

That was the issue. It had been building up for long I was about to unleash it all.

"I understand, Professor Slughorn. You don't think I'm anything special and thus the only reason why Newt and I would connect is due to powers I may possess. But I can assure you I'm a very good Care of the Magical Creatures student. You connect with some of your female students, are you saying they've all got charms on you?" I unleashed angrily.

Tension grew in the air that was so thick it felt you could slice it with a knife. I could see Mary wince at my statement, whilst Newt held a very proud grin towards me.

Slughorn on the other hand looked livid and could only let out angry splutters. After a few moments he was able to string together a sentence.

"No – that's – entirely – different!" Slughorn defended with his voice raised.

"How is it different? I find it quite insulting that you assume Newt has fallen under some kind of Veela charm because he teaches a subject you know nothing about." I shouted angrily.

"I know a lot about magical beasts thank you very much. Now why don't you scuttle al-" Slughorn tried to state but I quickly cut him off.

"Tell me then. What do you give Bowtruckle's as a distraction if you wish to take woods or leaves from its tree? What were Shrakes bred for? What are the difference between Ghouls and Ogres?" I quickly asked him.

There was complete silence. Slughorn darted his eyes between Newt and I, and with a sad sigh he hung his head to indicate defeat.

"Bowtruckles are best distracted by wood lice or fairy eggs if you wish to collect from the tree it's guarding. Shrakes were selectively bred by wizard fisherman to harass some muggle fisherman that insulted them – these creatures will chew through muggle fishing equipment. Ogres don't possess the slimy skin or buck teeth that ghouls have. They're also a little more intelligent as well." I answered.

There was more silence between us all until Newt was the first one to speak up.

"She's right in every single point, in fact if this were a test she'd receive extra credit for referencing lesser-known facts." Newt stated to back me up.

"Therefore you can see that it's possible that Newt and I could share an academic connection and why it's quite insulting you can think otherwise." I stated smugly.

"Well. I must apologise to everyone in this room, I did not think this meeting would get so heated. Professor Slughorn I mean no disrespect, and as stated before I just hope that should you see Riddle do anything inappropriate you will then act upon it. Now I'm going to bed." Mary quickly blabbed before she sent me a small smile and scurried out of Slughorn's office.

I could have been annoyed that Mary had thrown me into the lion's den by organising this impromptu meeting and then had abandoned me, but I wasn't. Mary had come here to defend me and had put her reputation on the line to try and get me help. She was one of very few who had stood up for me and I appreciated her gesture. I was glad for her sake she was able to leave on an almost-amicable note.

I had expected Slughorn to continue to be incredibly angry due to our heated exchange and the fact I had showed him up. But instead he broke out into a wide smile.

"I never thought I'd see the day that you'd unleash that famous Black temper that runs through your family. Good for you!" Slughorn complimented me.

This time it was me who abandoned my anger. Deep down I knew that I should be livid that it took this much time and effort to finally have Slughorn treat me with a bit of respect. But I was just overjoyed that I had finally earned it. Therefore I ended up sending him a sweet smile and calmed down.

"Thank you Professor. Now, with that Tom business. I'll communicate with him directly, and be a little more assertive. I'm sure this will clear up any er, misunderstandings." I sweetly smiled, beaming towards Slughorn.

"Thank you Miss Black. Now I must insist you leave, as I'd hate for you to get into trouble. If not from Professor Dippet, but Peeves who loves torturing students who are unauthorised to be outside their common rooms outside of hours." Professor Slughorn kindly stated.

I just smiled and bid Slughorn a goodnight as I quickly scampered outside of his office and began to make my descent back to the Slytherin common room. I didn't expect for Newt to follow me, however moments later I heard him running to catch up to me.

"I'll walk you back to the Slytherin dungeons. We wouldn't want Peeves to pull a prank on you." Newt said to me.

"You're not meant to know exactly where our common room is. It's a top secret." I responded with a frown. I didn't want Newt following me to my common room but knew I couldn't really say anything to protest. He was a member of faculty, he could do whatever he wanted.

"You forget I once was a student here. I had a very dear friend in Slytherin and she told me where it was. But I can gladly tell you where the Hufflepuff common room is as compensation. It's near the-" Newt began but I cut him off quickly.

"Near the kitchens. I know. Kreacher, the house elf of the main Black family home told me over the summer holidays when I was there for an engagement party. He knows some Hogwarts house elves." I responded smartly. It was a silly statement to make, but as I was annoyed with Newt I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of telling me silly, useless facts he thinks I didn't already know.

There was silence between us for a few moments until Newt finally spoke up.

"Are you aware you just used your Veela charms on Slughorn?" Newt grinned, completely ignoring all of my coldness I had shown him this evening.

"No I didn't." I defiantly responded.

"You did, you're just not aware you did. It's hard to explain half-Veela powers in words. But along with your sweet words and sweet smile you channelled your energy to win Slughorn over and it worked." Newt went on to explain.

I chose not to respond to Newt as we were getting fairly close to the Slytherin common room. His statement was both infuriating and devastating to me. I thought that maybe I had won Slughorn over tonight due to the one time in my life I had shown some sharp wit. But according to Newt it was because I used powers I didn't even realise I was using.

"Have you studied Veelas in detail in your travels?" I asked him curiously. It was the best I could do to not fly off the handle and tell him about how I had read the letter on his desk about studying me.

"Not extensively, no. I've done bits of research here and there and made some enquiries." Newt responded.

I only sent a swift nod in response. It had been such an eventful night I no longer had the energy to be rude or show angst towards Newt. I quite honestly just wanted to go to bed.

"Well. Goodnight Professor Scamander. You may know the location of the Slytherin common room but I certainly can't let you in. There hasn't been an outsider in here since the late thirteenth century, and I can't let my house down." I honestly stated to Newt once we got to the stone wall which served entrance to the Slytherin dungeons.

"I certainly wouldn't expect that. Sweet dreams, Tori." Newt responded.

I wasn't sure how we would depart as I was awaiting for Newt to be the one to leave so I could state the password to get past the stone wall. I was growing a little curious as to how he would depart. Would he just turn away and walk off, or would he have another action?

I was also curious as to whether he was ignoring the fact I had been fairly cold to him this evening or whether he was blissfully unaware. He's been conversing with me this evening as if I hadn't been avoiding him this week, or as if I hadn't said he's nothing but a teacher to me.

Before he could do what he was going to do, the wall to the Slytherin dungeon rose and none other than Tom Riddle had emerged from the passageway from behind it. Tom looked surprised to see Newt and I but quickly composed himself with a smile.

"Good evening professor, Victoria. I noticed Victoria hadn't yet retreated back to the Slytherin dungeons for the evenings so I was going out to make sure no harm had come to her. Come along Victoria, I'll escort you back inside." Tom formally stated.

Newt immediately stiffened upon hearing Tom's words. I'm sure that unlike Slughorn, Newt probably believed Mary and I when we reported Tom's control over me. But now he was made aware he was able to see between the lines of Tom's polite demeanour and see exactly what Tom was doing.

"That's very noble of you Riddle. Let me inform you that Tori has had a very big meeting with Professor Slughorn and myself and most likely wants to go straight to bed." Newt spoke up.

My eyes quickly darted to Tom. I wanted to see his reaction to Newt's recommendation and also the fact that Newt had called me by my nickname 'Tori'. Unfortunately for me Tom had his usual blank look on his face that was completely unreadable.

"Yes Professor. She's more than welcome to go to bed, no one is stopping her," Tom said politely, but then his voice grew a lot darker "You two must be fairly close, only those close to Tori seem to call her by that name."

I knew Tom would pick up on Newt's use of my name. Mary didn't, but Tom certainly did.

"I'm going to bed." I briskly responded as I continued going down the passage of the now-opened path to the Slytherin common room.

I didn't bother bidding Tom goodnight or saying any further departing words to Newt. I didn't even bother sending a glance backwards or see if Tom was following me. Those two males were the only things causing confusion and complication in my life at the moment, and for once I was going to just simply walk away from both of them.


End file.
